Telling a STORY with your STREET PHOTOGRAPHY [Part 1]

A deep dive into how you can learn to tell a compelling story with a single photograph.

When you hear the word "story", you're probably thinking of a tale with some kind of narrative. Perhaps one with a five-act structure which breaks the story down into individual sections: Exposition, Rising Action, Climax, Falling Action, and finally, the Resolution.

However, when it comes to Street Photography - especially Candid Street Photography - it is often difficult to plan your narrative structure ahead of time.

On top of this, you rarely get more than a couple of seconds to capture a candid moment before it passes.

So when it comes to telling a story through your Street Photography, the classic narrative structure needs to get condensed into something that can fit inside a single photograph, and that can be quite difficult to do, but it's a lot of fun as well.

Telling a Story With a Single Photograph

There are several different ways that you can tell stories with your Street Photography, even if it's through only one photo.

First, remember that photographic storytelling is no different to storytelling through paintings or drawings. Artists have been doing this for centuries - heck, so have cavemen!

In each case, the artist's intention is to grab the attention of the viewer and make them feel something about the piece.

Does it make the viewer feel happy? Angry? perhaps sympathetic?

Do they feel a cold or warm vibe from the photograph?

Does the viewer suddenly feel like they want to ask questions about what is happening, or why?

If the artist is skilled in what they have painted or captured, then the viewer may even be able to create their own 'conclusions' to the story being presented.

Young man sleeping on a Tokyo train

Consider the above photograph of a young man sleeping on a Tokyo train, which I was very fortunate to capture on a recent trip to Japan.

The story being told in this photo is that of a tired Japanese man trying to catch up on a little bit of sleep while riding on a downtown train.

Questions, I Have a Few

However, the photo poses a number of questions to the viewer.

Is the sleeping man coming home after a long day of work? Perhaps he had to pull and all-nighter and this photograph was captured in the early hours of the morning. Maybe he is not coming home from work at all, but he is a student who had to study late, and is now on his way to work. His bag may in fact be a school bag and not a work bag.

All valid assumptions, and depending on which you choose to assign to the photo, will determine how you feel about it.

Feelings

When it comes to how the photo makes you feel, I bet you feel a little stressed for the man. You may be a bit anxious for him, perhaps worried that he may miss his stop. Maybe you're also a little concerned that someone might steal his bag, but this being Japan, that's highly unlikely.

If you're in a particular mood, this seemingly innocent photo of a sleeping man could make you wonder whether he is actually alive. That observation - while thankfully being incorrect - is still completely valid.

Creating Your Own Conclusions

As far as conclusions to the story go, here's one;

The man looks very tired, therefore it's easy to picture him sleeping in and missing his intended stop. If we assume that he is going to work, and that he does miss his stop - and this photo being taken in Japan - then it's easy to imagine him getting reprimanded at work, or perhaps even losing his job.

As the photographer of this piece, I already know the answers to many of the above questions. However, as the viewer, you are left to fill in many of the blanks yourself. You can definitely search the photograph for any clues and hints, but ultimately the 'story' being told is actually narrated by you. My goal as the 'caveman with a camera' is to provide you with a starting point.

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Happy shooting!