Storytelling with Photographs: How to Create a Photo Essay by Anne Darling

Author:Anne Darling [Darling, Anne]
Language: eng
Format: epub, pdf
Published: 2014-07-20T21:00:00+00:00

6. Editing Your Photo Essay

1. The first edit

If you have a digital camera, the chances are that you will have hundreds of images on your hard drive maybe more if your photo shoots spanned weeks or months. So I would suggest that the first thing to do is to narrow down your choice of images to 100 shots. These will be your best images obviously, but you will undoubtedly need to include other images that help to tell the story, and which may not be your absolute best. Make sure that you check through the list above in the section on planning your shots.

If you can, I strongly advise printing out your initial edit. The photos only need to be small, around postcard size or 4 inches by 6 inches, and they don't need to be great quality but the merit of printing them out is that you can spread them all out on a desk or table in order to see them all at once.

This is very helpful when creating your story as you can shuffle them around easily, try out different sequences or take some out, put others back in and so on. It also gives you a certain objectivity which you don't have when looking at them on a screen. Trust me, this is not a waste of time or money.

At this stage you may like to invite one or two trusted friends to give you honest feedback on your shots. They may really like certain shots that you’re not sure about and will advise you to keep them in or they may say they don’t understand a particular shot or sequence which you can then change.

It’s more about what works within the context of the essay rather than what you think are your best shots. Often we are attached to a certain photograph because, for example, it has a powerful composition but it may just be the case that the photo in question doesn't really fit in with the sequence. It can be hard to spot this sometimes.

It’s very easy to get caught up in memories from the photo shoot so knowing what others see can be extremely helpful. Also, it isn't always the most emotional pictures that need to go in because your audience needs background information too so try to balance both aspects.

Next, make a second choice, whittling it down to about 20 images. Shuffle them around, try different combinations. What is most fascinating about the editing phase of a photo essay is the creative process that emerges and how you find new combinations and juxtapositions that enhance your initial work. The final edit for a photo essay can be any number of photos. Try to aim for 10-12 if this is your first essay but you could start with as few as six.

Be ruthless and avoid the temptation to explain too much by putting in shots that you like but don’t add significantly to the narrative or commentary. Just as we tend to

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