Photo Essay

Photos seen as a series to tell a story, but standing on their own as well

Photo-essay (or photographic essay)

• is a set or series of photographs that are intended to tell a story or evoke a series of emotions in the viewer

• will often show pictures in deep emotional stages

• Yours will be sequential photographic works with full paragraph text commentary to tell the story

As a photographer, you are a storyteller. The nouns are your subject matter; the verbs are the color and contrast that keep the story moving. A cast of characters all working together to get your point across. You must have proper exposure, tack-sharp focus, and amazing lighting because your story is especially important and meaningful.

With blogging and social media, photo essays are more popular than ever: humorous or emotionally relevant, sparking debate or encouraging compassion, each with a story to tell.

Taking on a photo project is a great way to get a message across and have your work seen by a larger group. A photo essay is intriguing; it’s something to talk about, extremely satisfying, and can kick-start creative wonderment.

Here is a great collection of Photo Essays:http://www.motherjones.com/photoessays

Your assignment• Take a series of 10 successful photographs each. Place each good photo

on a slide by itself and include the paragraph of the Essay that is affiliated with that photo on the slide following the photo or in the NOTES section below the photo.

• If you use PhotoShop to fix or enhance, at the end of the essay you must explain what was done on each photo and show a “before” and “final” side by side.

• You will be reporting a story, so will write one paragraph for EACH of the 10 photographs in your essay, as a reporter would do. Paragraphs should have an opening sentence, 3 sentences describing your three points, and a closing sentence stating your final conclusion.

• This IS your Final.

• 400 points