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How to Create an Engaging Photo Essay (with Examples)
Photo essays tell a story in pictures. They're a great way to improve at photography and story-telling skills at once. Learn how to do create a great one.
Learn | Photography Guides | By Ana Mireles
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Photography is a medium used to tell stories – sometimes they are told in one picture, sometimes you need a whole series. Those series can be photo essays.
If you’ve never done a photo essay before, or you’re simply struggling to find your next project, this article will be of help. I’ll be showing you what a photo essay is and how to go about doing one.
You’ll also find plenty of photo essay ideas and some famous photo essay examples from recent times that will serve you as inspiration.
If you’re ready to get started, let’s jump right in!
Table of Contents
What is a Photo Essay?
A photo essay is a series of images that share an overarching theme as well as a visual and technical coherence to tell a story. Some people refer to a photo essay as a photo series or a photo story – this often happens in photography competitions.
Photographic history is full of famous photo essays. Think about The Great Depression by Dorothea Lange, Like Brother Like Sister by Wolfgang Tillmans, Gandhi’s funeral by Henri Cartier Bresson, amongst others.
What are the types of photo essay?
Despite popular belief, the type of photo essay doesn’t depend on the type of photography that you do – in other words, journalism, documentary, fine art, or any other photographic genre is not a type of photo essay.
Instead, there are two main types of photo essays: narrative and thematic .
As you have probably already guessed, the thematic one presents images pulled together by a topic – for example, global warming. The images can be about animals and nature as well as natural disasters devastating cities. They can happen all over the world or in the same location, and they can be captured in different moments in time – there’s a lot of flexibility.
A narrative photo essa y, on the other hand, tells the story of a character (human or not), portraying a place or an event. For example, a narrative photo essay on coffee would document the process from the planting and harvesting – to the roasting and grinding until it reaches your morning cup.
What are some of the key elements of a photo essay?
- Tell a unique story – A unique story doesn’t mean that you have to photograph something that nobody has done before – that would be almost impossible! It means that you should consider what you’re bringing to the table on a particular topic.
- Put yourself into the work – One of the best ways to make a compelling photo essay is by adding your point of view, which can only be done with your life experiences and the way you see the world.
- Add depth to the concept – The best photo essays are the ones that go past the obvious and dig deeper in the story, going behind the scenes, or examining a day in the life of the subject matter – that’s what pulls in the spectator.
- Nail the technique – Even if the concept and the story are the most important part of a photo essay, it won’t have the same success if it’s poorly executed.
- Build a structure – A photo essay is about telling a thought-provoking story – so, think about it in a narrative way. Which images are going to introduce the topic? Which ones represent a climax? How is it going to end – how do you want the viewer to feel after seeing your photo series?
- Make strong choices – If you really want to convey an emotion and a unique point of view, you’re going to need to make some hard decisions. Which light are you using? Which lens? How many images will there be in the series? etc., and most importantly for a great photo essay is the why behind those choices.
9 Tips for Creating a Photo Essay
![photo essay in home](https://shotkit.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/Photo-essay-laura-james.jpeg)
Credit: Laura James
1. Choose something you know
To make a good photo essay, you don’t need to travel to an exotic location or document a civil war – I mean, it’s great if you can, but you can start close to home.
Depending on the type of photography you do and the topic you’re looking for in your photographic essay, you can photograph a local event or visit an abandoned building outside your town.
It will be much easier for you to find a unique perspective and tell a better story if you’re already familiar with the subject. Also, consider that you might have to return a few times to the same location to get all the photos you need.
2. Follow your passion
Most photo essays take dedication and passion. If you choose a subject that might be easy, but you’re not really into it – the results won’t be as exciting. Taking photos will always be easier and more fun if you’re covering something you’re passionate about.
3. Take your time
A great photo essay is not done in a few hours. You need to put in the time to research it, conceptualizing it, editing, etc. That’s why I previously recommended following your passion because it takes a lot of dedication, and if you’re not passionate about it – it’s difficult to push through.
4. Write a summary or statement
Photo essays are always accompanied by some text. You can do this in the form of an introduction, write captions for each photo or write it as a conclusion. That’s up to you and how you want to present the work.
5. Learn from the masters
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Making a photographic essay takes a lot of practice and knowledge. A great way to become a better photographer and improve your storytelling skills is by studying the work of others. You can go to art shows, review books and magazines and look at the winners in photo contests – most of the time, there’s a category for photo series.
6. Get a wide variety of photos
Think about a story – a literary one. It usually tells you where the story is happening, who is the main character, and it gives you a few details to make you engage with it, right?
The same thing happens with a visual story in a photo essay – you can do some wide-angle shots to establish the scenes and some close-ups to show the details. Make a shot list to ensure you cover all the different angles.
Some of your pictures should guide the viewer in, while others are more climatic and regard the experience they are taking out of your photos.
7. Follow a consistent look
Both in style and aesthetics, all the images in your series need to be coherent. You can achieve this in different ways, from the choice of lighting, the mood, the post-processing, etc.
8. Be self-critical
Once you have all the photos, make sure you edit them with a good dose of self-criticism. Not all the pictures that you took belong in the photo essay. Choose only the best ones and make sure they tell the full story.
9. Ask for constructive feedback
Often, when we’re working on a photo essay project for a long time, everything makes perfect sense in our heads. However, someone outside the project might not be getting the idea. It’s important that you get honest and constructive criticism to improve your photography.
How to Create a Photo Essay in 5 Steps
![photo essay in home photo essay in home](https://shotkit.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/Photo-Essays-quang-nguyen-vinh.jpeg)
Credit: Quang Nguyen Vinh
1. Choose your topic
This is the first step that you need to take to decide if your photo essay is going to be narrative or thematic. Then, choose what is it going to be about?
Ideally, it should be something that you’re interested in, that you have something to say about it, and it can connect with other people.
2. Research your topic
To tell a good story about something, you need to be familiar with that something. This is especially true when you want to go deeper and make a compelling photo essay. Day in the life photo essays are a popular choice, since often, these can be performed with friends and family, whom you already should know well.
3. Plan your photoshoot
Depending on what you’re photographing, this step can be very different from one project to the next. For a fine art project, you might need to find a location, props, models, a shot list, etc., while a documentary photo essay is about planning the best time to do the photos, what gear to bring with you, finding a local guide, etc.
Every photo essay will need different planning, so before taking pictures, put in the required time to get things right.
4. Experiment
It’s one thing to plan your photo shoot and having a shot list that you have to get, or else the photo essay won’t be complete. It’s another thing to miss out on some amazing photo opportunities that you couldn’t foresee.
So, be prepared but also stay open-minded and experiment with different settings, different perspectives, etc.
5. Make a final selection
Editing your work can be one of the hardest parts of doing a photo essay. Sometimes we can be overly critical, and others, we get attached to bad photos because we put a lot of effort into them or we had a great time doing them.
Try to be as objective as possible, don’t be afraid to ask for opinions and make various revisions before settling down on a final cut.
7 Photo Essay Topics, Ideas & Examples
![photo essay in home photo essay in home](https://shotkit.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/Photo-Essay-michelle-leman.jpeg)
Credit: Michelle Leman
- Architectural photo essay
Using architecture as your main subject, there are tons of photo essay ideas that you can do. For some inspiration, you can check out the work of Francisco Marin – who was trained as an architect and then turned to photography to “explore a different way to perceive things”.
You can also lookup Luisa Lambri. Amongst her series, you’ll find many photo essay examples in which architecture is the subject she uses to explore the relationship between photography and space.
- Process and transformation photo essay
This is one of the best photo essay topics for beginners because the story tells itself. Pick something that has a beginning and an end, for example, pregnancy, the metamorphosis of a butterfly, the life-cycle of a plant, etc.
Keep in mind that these topics are linear and give you an easy way into the narrative flow – however, it might be difficult to find an interesting perspective and a unique point of view.
- A day in the life of ‘X’ photo essay
There are tons of interesting photo essay ideas in this category – you can follow around a celebrity, a worker, your child, etc. You don’t even have to do it about a human subject – think about doing a photo essay about a day in the life of a racing horse, for example – find something that’s interesting for you.
- Time passing by photo essay
It can be a natural site or a landmark photo essay – whatever is close to you will work best as you’ll need to come back multiple times to capture time passing by. For example, how this place changes throughout the seasons or maybe even over the years.
A fun option if you live with family is to document a birthday party each year, seeing how the subject changes over time. This can be combined with a transformation essay or sorts, documenting the changes in interpersonal relationships over time.
- Travel photo essay
Do you want to make the jump from tourist snapshots into a travel photo essay? Research the place you’re going to be travelling to. Then, choose a topic.
If you’re having trouble with how to do this, check out any travel magazine – National Geographic, for example. They won’t do a generic article about Texas – they do an article about the beach life on the Texas Gulf Coast and another one about the diverse flavors of Texas.
The more specific you get, the deeper you can go with the story.
- Socio-political issues photo essay
This is one of the most popular photo essay examples – it falls under the category of photojournalism or documental photography. They are usually thematic, although it’s also possible to do a narrative one.
Depending on your topic of interest, you can choose topics that involve nature – for example, document the effects of global warming. Another idea is to photograph protests or make an education photo essay.
It doesn’t have to be a big global issue; you can choose something specific to your community – are there too many stray dogs? Make a photo essay about a local animal shelter. The topics are endless.
- Behind the scenes photo essay
A behind-the-scenes always make for a good photo story – people are curious to know what happens and how everything comes together before a show.
Depending on your own interests, this can be a photo essay about a fashion show, a theatre play, a concert, and so on. You’ll probably need to get some permissions, though, not only to shoot but also to showcase or publish those images.
4 Best Photo Essays in Recent times
Now that you know all the techniques about it, it might be helpful to look at some photo essay examples to see how you can put the concept into practice. Here are some famous photo essays from recent times to give you some inspiration.
Habibi by Antonio Faccilongo
This photo essay wan the World Press Photo Story of the Year in 2021. Faccilongo explores a very big conflict from a very specific and intimate point of view – how the Israeli-Palestinian war affects the families.
He chose to use a square format because it allows him to give order to things and eliminate unnecessary elements in his pictures.
With this long-term photo essay, he wanted to highlight the sense of absence and melancholy women and families feel towards their husbands away at war.
The project then became a book edited by Sarah Leen and the graphics of Ramon Pez.
![photo essay in home photo essay in home](https://shotkit.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/Photo-Essays-Picture-This.jpg)
Picture This: New Orleans by Mary Ellen Mark
The last assignment before her passing, Mary Ellen Mark travelled to New Orleans to register the city after a decade after Hurricane Katrina.
The images of the project “bring to life the rebirth and resilience of the people at the heart of this tale”, – says CNNMoney, commissioner of the work.
Each survivor of the hurricane has a story, and Mary Ellen Mark was there to record it. Some of them have heartbreaking stories about everything they had to leave behind.
Others have a story of hope – like Sam and Ben, two eight-year-olds born from frozen embryos kept in a hospital that lost power supply during the hurricane, yet they managed to survive.
![photo essay in home photo essay in home](https://shotkit.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/Photo-Essays-Cindy-Sherman.jpg)
Selfie by Cindy Sherman
Cindy Sherman is an American photographer whose work is mainly done through self-portraits. With them, she explores the concept of identity, gender stereotypes, as well as visual and cultural codes.
One of her latest photo essays was a collaboration with W Magazine entitled Selfie. In it, the author explores the concept of planned candid photos (‘plandid’).
The work was made for Instagram, as the platform is well known for the conflict between the ‘real self’ and the one people present online. Sherman started using Facetune, Perfect365 and YouCam to alter her appearance on selfies – in Photoshop, you can modify everything, but these apps were designed specifically to “make things prettier”- she says, and that’s what she wants to explore in this photo essay.
Tokyo Compression by Michael Wolf
Michael Wolf has an interest in the broad-gauge topic Life in Cities. From there, many photo essays have been derived – amongst them – Tokyo Compression .
He was horrified by the way people in Tokyo are forced to move to the suburbs because of the high prices of the city. Therefore, they are required to make long commutes facing 1,5 hours of train to start their 8+ hour workday followed by another 1,5 hours to get back home.
To portray this way of life, he photographed the people inside the train pressed against the windows looking exhausted, angry or simply absent due to this way of life.
You can visit his website to see other photo essays that revolve around the topic of life in megacities.
Final Words
It’s not easy to make photo essays, so don’t expect to be great at it right from your first project.
Start off small by choosing a specific subject that’s interesting to you – that will come from an honest place, and it will be a great practice for some bigger projects along the line.
Whether you like to shoot still life or you’re a travel photographer, I hope these photo essay tips and photo essay examples can help you get started and grow in your photography.
Let us know which topics you are working on right now – we’ll love to hear from you!
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Ana Mireles is a Mexican researcher that specializes in photography and communications for the arts and culture sector.
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How to Create a Photo Essay in 9 Steps (with Examples)
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What is a photo essay?
- Photo essays vs photo stories
- How photo essays help you
- 9 Steps to create photo essays
How to share your photo essays
Read Time: 11 minutes
Gather up a handful of images that seem to go together, and voila! It’s a photo essay, right? Well… no. Though, this is a common misconception.
In reality, a photo essay is much more thoughtful and structured than that. When you take the time to craft one, you’re using skills from all facets of our craft – from composition to curation.
In this guide, you’ll learn what makes a photo essay an amazing project that stretches your skills. You’ll also learn exactly how to make one step by step.
- Photo essay vs photo story
A photo essay is a collection of images based around a theme, a topic, a creative approach, or an exploration of an idea. Photo essays balance visual variety with a cohesive style and concept.
What’s the difference between a photo essay and a photo story?
The terms photo essay and photo story are often used interchangeably. Even the dictionary definition of “photo essay” includes using images to convey either a theme or a story.
But in my experience, a photo essay and a photo story are two different things. As you delve into the field of visual storytelling, distinguishing between the two helps you to take a purposeful approach to what you’re making .
The differences ultimately lie in the distinctions between theme, topic and story.
Themes are big-picture concepts. Example: Wildness
Topics are more specific than themes, but still overarching. Example : Wild bears of Yellowstone National Park
Stories are specific instances or experiences that happen within, or provide an example for, a topic or theme. Example: A certain wild bear became habituated to tourists and was relocated to maintain its wildness
Unlike a theme or topic, a story has particular elements that make it a story. They include leading characters, a setting, a narrative arc, conflict, and (usually) resolution.
With that in mind, we can distingush between a photo essay and a photo story.
Themes and Topics vs Stories
A photo essay revolves around a topic, theme, idea, or concept. It visually explores a big-picture something .
This allows a good deal of artistic leeway where a photographer can express their vision, philosophies, opinions, or artistic expression as they create their images.
A photo story is a portfolio of images that illustrate – you guessed it – a story.
Because of this, there are distinct types of images that a photo story uses that add to the understanding, insight, clarity and meaning to the story for viewers. While they can certainly be artistically crafted and visually stunning, photo stories document something happening, and rely on visual variety for capturing the full experience.
A photo essay doesn’t need to have the same level of structured variety that a photo story requires. It can have images that overlap or are similar, as they each explore various aspects of a theme.
![An urban coyote walks across a road near an apartment building An urban coyote walks across a road near an apartment building](https://efirq7mmtwd.exactdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/urban-coyote-walking-on-street-jaymi-heimbuch-IMG_3112.jpg?lossy=1&ssl=1)
Photo essays can be about any topic. If you live in a city, consider using your nature photography to make an essay about the wildlife that lives in your neighborhood .
The role of text with photos
A photo story typically runs alongside text that narrates the story. We’re a visual species, and the images help us feel like we are there, experiencing what’s happening. So, the images add significant power to the text, but they’re often a partner to it.
This isn’t always the case, of course. Sometimes photo stories don’t need or use text. It’s like reading a graphic novel that doesn’t use text. Moving through the different images that build on each other ultimately unveils the narrative.
Photo essays don’t need to rely on text to illuminate the images’ theme or topic. The photographer may use captions (or even a text essay), or they may let the images speak for themselves.
Definitions are helpful guidelines (not strict rules)
Some people categorize photo essays as either narrative or thematic. That’s essentially just calling photo stories “narrative photo essays” and photo essays “thematic photo essays.”
But, a story is a defined thing, and any writer/editor will tell you themes and topics are not the same as stories. And we use the word “story” in our daily lives as it’s defined. So, it makes far more sense to name the difference between a photo essay and a photo story, and bask in the same clarity writers enjoy .
Photo stories illustrate a particular experience, event, narrative, something that happened or is happening.
Photo essays explore an idea, concept, topic, theme, creative approach, big-picture something .
Both photo essays and photo stories are immensely powerful visual tools. And yes, the differences between them can certainly be blurred, as is always the case with art.
Simply use this distinction as a general guideline, providing extra clarity around what you’re making and why you’re making it.
To dig into specific types of images used to create powerful photo stories, check out this training: 6 Must-Have Shots for a Photo Story.
Meanwhile, let’s dig deeper into photo essays.
![A sea nettle jellyfish floats alone on a white surface A sea nettle jellyfish floats alone on a white surface](https://efirq7mmtwd.exactdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/jellyfish-in-black-and-white-jaymi-heimbuchIMG_0264.jpg?lossy=1&ssl=1)
Photo essays are a chance to try new styles or techniques that stretch your skills and creativity. This image was part of an essay exploring simplicity and shape, and helped me learn new skills in black and white post-processing.
How photo essays improve your photography
Creating photo essays is an amazing antidote if you’ve ever felt a lack of direction or purpose in your photography. Photo essays help build your photographic skills in at least 3 important ways.
1. You become more strategic in creating a body of work
It’s easy to get stuck in a rut of photographing whatever pops up in front of you. And when you do, you end up with a collection of stand-alone shots.
These singles may work fine as a print, a quick Instagram post, or an addition to your gallery of shots on your website. But amassing a bunch of one-off shots limits your opportunities as a photographer for everything from exhibits to getting your work published.
Building photo essays pushes you to think strategically about what you photograph, why, and how. You’re working toward a particular deliverable – a cohesive visual essay – with the images you create.
This elevates your skills in crafting your photo essay, and in how you curate the rest of your work, from galleries on your website to selecting images to sell as prints .
2. You become more purposeful in your composition skills
Composition is so much more than just following the rule of thirds, golden spirals, or thinking about the angle of light in a shot.
Composition is also about thinking ahead in what you’re trying to accomplish with a photograph – from what you’re saying through it to its emotional impact on a viewer – and where it fits within a larger body of work.
Photo essays push you to think critically about each shot – from coming up with fresh compositions for familiar subjects, to devising surprising compositions to fit within a collection, to creating compositions that expand on what’s already in a photo essay.
You’re pushed beyond creating a single pleasing frame, which leads you to shoot more thoughtfully and proactively than ever.
(Here’s a podcast episode on switching from reactive shooting to proactive shooting .)
3. You develop strong editing and curation skills
Selecting which images stay, and which get left behind is one of the hardest jobs on a photographer’s to-do list. Mostly, it’s because of emotional attachment.
You might think it’s an amazing shot because you know the effort that went into capturing it. Or perhaps when you look at it, you get a twinge of the joy or exhilaration you felt the moment you captured it. There’s also the second-guessing that goes into which of two similar images is the best – which will people like more? So you’re tempted to just show both.
Ultimately, great photographers appear all the more skilled because they only show their best work. That in and of itself is a skill they’ve developed through years of ruthlessly editing their own work.
Because the most powerful photo essays only show a handful of extraordinary images, you’re bound to develop the very same critical skill (and look all the more talented because of it).
Photo essays are also a great stepping stone to creating photo stories. If you’re interested in moving beyond stand-alone shots and building stories, shooting photo essays will get your creative brain limbered up and ready for the adventure of photo stories.
![An American dipper looks into the water of a stream on a cold morning An american dipper looks into the water of a stream on a cold morning](https://efirq7mmtwd.exactdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/american-dipper-in-stream-jaymi-heimbuch_JHX5790.jpg?lossy=1&ssl=1)
A photo essay exploring the natural history of a favorite species is an exciting opportunity for an in-depth study. For me, that was a photo essay on emotive images of the American dipper (Cinclus mexicanus) as it hunts in streams.
9 Simple steps to create your photo essays
1. clarify your theme.
Choose a theme, topic, or concept you want to explore. Spend some time getting crystal clear on what you want to focus on. It helps to write out a few sentences, or even a few paragraphs noting:
- What you want the essay to be about
- What kinds of images you want to create as part of it
- How you’ll photograph the images
- The style, techniques, or gear you might use to create your images
- What “success” looks like when you’re done with your photo essay
You don’t have to stick to what you write down, of course. It can change during the image creation process. But fleshing your idea out on paper goes a long way in clarifying your photo essay theme and how you’ll go about creating it.
2. Create your images
Grab your camera and head outside!
As you’re photographing your essay, allow yourself some freedom to experiment. Try unusual compositions or techniques that are new to you.
Stretch your style a little, or “try on” the style of other photographers you admire who have photographed similar subjects.
Photo essays are wonderful opportunities to push yourself outside of your comfort zone and grow as a photographer .
Remember that a photo essay is a visually cohesive collection of images that make sense together. So, while you might stretch yourself into new terrain as you shoot, try to keep that approach, style, or strategy consistent.
Don’t be afraid to create lots of images. It’s great to have lots to choose from in the editing process, which comes up next.
3. Pull together your wide edit
Once you’ve created your images, pull together all the images that might make the cut. This could be as many as 40-60 images. Include anything you want to consider for the final essay in the wide edit.
From here, start weeding out images that:
- are weaker in composition or subject matter
- stand out like a sore thumb from the rest of the collection
- Are similar to other stronger images in the collection
It’s helpful to review the images at thumbnail size. You make more instinctive decisions and can more easily see the body of work as a whole. If an image is strong even at thumbnail size to stand out from similar frames while also partnering well with other images in the collection, that’s a good sign it’s strong enough for the essay.
4. Post-process your images for a cohesive look
Now it’s time to post-process the images. Use whatever editing software you’re comfortable with to polish your images.
Again, a photo essay has a cohesive visual look. If you use presets, filters, or other tools, use them across all the images.
5. Finalize your selection
It’s time to make the tough decisions. Select only the strongest for your photo essay from your group of images.
Each image should be strong enough to stand on its own and make sense as part of the whole group.
Many photo essays range from 8-12 images. But of course, it varies based on the essay. The number of images you have in your final photo essay is up to you.
Remember, less is more. A photo essay is most powerful when each image deserves to be included.
6. Put your images in a purposeful order
Create a visual flow with your images. Decide which image is first, and build from there. Use compositions, colors, and subject matter to decide which image goes next, then next, then next in the order.
Think of it like music: notes are arranged in a way that builds energy, or slows it down, surprise listeners with a new refrain, or drop into a familiar chorus. How the notes are ordered creates emotional arcs for listeners.
How you order your images is similar.
Think of the experience a viewer will have as they look at one image, then the next, and the next. Order your images so they create the experience you want your audience to have.
7. Get feedback
The best photographers make space for feedback, even when it’s tough to hear. Your work benefits from not just hearing feedback, but listening to it and applying what you learn from it.
Show your photo essay to people who have different sensibilities or tastes. Friends, family members, fellow photographers – anyone you trust to give you honest feedback.
Watch their reactions and hear what they say about what they’re seeing. Use their feedback to guide you in the next step.
8. Refine, revise, and finalize
Let your photo essay marinate for a little while. Take a day or two away from it. Then use your freshened eyes and the feedback you received from the previous step to refine your essay.
Swap out any selects you might want to change and reorder the images if needed.
9. Add captions
Even if you don’t plan on displaying captions with your images, captioning your images is a great practice to get into. It gives context, story, and important information to each image. And, more than likely, you will want to use these captions at some point when you share your photo essay, which we dive into later in this article.
Add captions to the image files using Lightroom, Bridge, or other software programs.
Create a document, such as a Google or Word doc, with captions for each image.
In your captions, share a bit about the story behind the image, or the creation process. Add whatever makes sense to share that provides a greater understanding of the image and its purpose.
![Two rocks sit near each other on a wind-blown beach with long lines of texture in the sand Two rocks sit near each other on a wind-blown beach with long lines of texture in the sand](https://efirq7mmtwd.exactdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/rocks-on-textured-sand-jaymi-heimbuch-JHX3433.jpg?lossy=1&ssl=1)
Photo essays allow you to explore deliberate style choices, such as a focus on shapes, patterns, textures, and lines. Since each photo is part of a larger essay, it encourages you to be bold with choices you might not otherwise make.
5 Examples of amazing nature photo essays
1. “how the water shapes us” from the nature conservancy.
![screenshot-photo-essay-nature-conservancy-web Screenshot of the landing page of photo essay how the water shapes us from nature conservancy](https://efirq7mmtwd.exactdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/screenshot-photo-essay-nature-conservancy-web-e1661022684510-1024x561.png?lossy=1&ssl=1)
This gorgeous essay, crafted with the work of multiple photographers, explores the people and places within the Mississippi River basin. Through the images, we gain a sense of how the water influences life from the headwater all the way to the Gulf of Mexico. Notice how each photographer is tasked with the same theme, yet approaches it with their own distinct style and vision. It is a wonderful example of the sheer level of visual variety you can have while maintaining a consistent style or theme.
View it here
2. “A Cyclist on the English Landscape” from New York Times’ The World Through A Lens series
![screenshot-photo-essay-new-york-times-cyclist-web Screenshot of the landing page of photo essay a cyclist on the english landscape from new york times](https://efirq7mmtwd.exactdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/screenshot-photo-essay-new-york-times-cyclist-web.png?lossy=1&ssl=1)
This photo essay is a series of self-portraits by travel photographer Roff Smith while “stuck” at home during the pandemic. As he peddled the roads making portraits, the project evolved into a “celebration of traveling at home”. It’s a great example of how visually consistent you can be inside a theme while making each image completely unique.
3. “Vermont, Dressed In Snow” from New York Times’ The World Through A Lens series
![screenshot-photo-essay-new-york-times-winter-web Screenshot of the landing page of photo essay vermont, dressed in snow from new york times](https://efirq7mmtwd.exactdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/screenshot-photo-essay-new-york-times-winter-web.png?lossy=1&ssl=1)
This essay by aerial photographer Caleb Kenna uses a very common photo essay theme: snow. Because all images are aerial photographs, there’s a consistency to them. Yet, the compositions are utterly unique from one another. It’s a great example of keeping viewers surprised as they move from one image to the next while still maintaining a clear focus on the theme.
4. “Starling-Studded Skies” from bioGraphic Magazine
![screenshot-photo-essay-biographic-web Screenshot of the landing page of photo essay starling-studded-skies from biographic magazine](https://efirq7mmtwd.exactdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/screenshot-photo-essay-biographic-web-e1661022700219.png?lossy=1&resize=1080%2C591&ssl=1)
This beautiful essay is by Kathryn Cooper, a physicist trained in bioinformatics, and a talented photographer. She used a 19th century photographic technique, chronophotography, to create images that give us a look at the art and science of starling murmurations. She states: “I’m interested in the transient moments when chaos briefly changes to order, and thousands of individual bodies appear to move as one.” This essay is a great example of deep exploration of a concept using a specific photographic technique.
View it here (Note: must be viewed on desktop)
5. “These Scrappy Photos Capture the Action-Packed World Beneath a Bird Feeder” from Audubon Magazine
![screenshot-photo-essay-audubon-web Screenshot of the landing page of photo essay by carla rhodes from audubon online](https://efirq7mmtwd.exactdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/screenshot-photo-essay-audubon-web-e1661022721716.png?lossy=1&ssl=1)
This photo essay from conservation photographer Carla Rhodes explores the wildlife that takes advantage of the bounty of food waiting under bird feeders . Using remote camera photography , Rhodes gives viewers a unique ground-level perspective and captures moments that make us feel like we’re in conversation with friends in the Hundred Acre Woods. This essay is a great example of how perspective, personality, and chance can all come into play as you explore both an idea and a technique.
25 Ideas for creative photo essays you can make
The possibilities for photo essays are truly endless – from the concepts you explore to the techniques you use and styles you apply.
Choose an idea, hone your unique perspective on it, then start applying the 9 simple steps from above.
- The life of a plant or animal (your favorite species, a species living in your yard, etc)
- The many shapes of a single species (a tree species, a bird species, etc)
- How a place changes over time
- The various moods of a place
- A conservation issue you care about
- Math in nature
- Urban nature
- Seasonal changes
- Your yard as a space for nature
- Shifting climate and its impacts
- Human impacts on environments
- Elements: Water, wind, fire, earth
- Day in the life (of a person, a place, a stream, a tree…)
- Outdoor recreation (birding, kayaking, hiking, naturalist journaling…)
- Wildlife rehabilitation
- Lunar cycles
- Sunlight and shadows
- Your local watershed
- Coexistence
![A Pacific wren sings from a branch in a sun dappled forest A pacific wren sings from a branch in a sun dappled forest](https://efirq7mmtwd.exactdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/pacific-wren-singing-in-forest-jaymi-heimbuch-HX21390.jpg?lossy=1&ssl=1)
As you zero in on a photo essay theme, consider two things: what most excites you about an idea, and what about it pushes you out of your comfort zone. The heady mix of joy and challenge will ensure you stick with it.
Your photo essay is ready for the world! Decide how you’d like to make an impact with your work. You might use one or several of the options below.
1. Share it on your website
Create a gallery or a scrollytelling page on your website. This is a great way to drive traffic to your website where people can peruse your photo essay and the rest of the photography you have.
Putting it on your website and optimizing your images for SEO helps you build organic traffic and potentially be discovered by a broader audience, including photo editors.
2. Create a scrollytelling web page
If you enjoy the experience of immersive visual experiences, consider making one using your essay. And no, you don’t have to be a whiz at code to make it happen.
Shorthand helps you build web pages with scrollytelling techniques that make a big impression on viewers. Their free plan allows you to publish 3 essays or stories.
3. Create a Medium post
If you don’t have a website and want to keep things simple, a post on Medium is a great option.
Though it’s known for being a platform for bloggers, it’s also possible to add images to a post for a simple scroll.
And, because readers can discover and share posts, it’s a good place for your photos to get the attention of people who might not otherwise come across it.
4. Share it on Instagram
Instagram has changed a lot over the last couple of years, but it’s still a place for photographers to share their work thoughtfully.
There are at least 3 great ways to share your photo essay on the platform.
– Create a single post for each image. Add a caption. Publish one post per day until the full essay is on your feed. Share each post via Instagram Stories to bring more attention and interaction to your photo essay.
– Create a carousel post. You can add up 10 photos to a carousel post, so you may need to create two of them for your full photo essay. Or you might create a series of carousel posts using 3-4 images in each.
– Create a Reel featuring your images as a video. The algorithm heavily favors reels, so turning your photo essay into a video experience can get it out to a larger audience.
I ran a “create a reel” challenge in my membership community. One member created a reel with her still images around a serious conservation issue. It gathered a ton of attention and landed her opportunities to share her message through YouTube and podcast interviews and publishing opportunities. Watch it here.
5. Exhibit it locally
Reach out to local galleries, cafes, pubs, or even the public library to see if they’re interested in hanging your photo essay for display. Many local businesses and organizations happily support the work of local artists.
6. Pitch your photo essay to publications
One of the best ways to reach an audience with your work is to get it published. Find publications that are a great fit for the theme and style of your photo essay, then pitch your essay for consideration. You gain a fantastic opportunity to share your work widely and can earn a paycheck at the same time.
Remember that if you want to get your photo essay published, you may want to hold back from sharing it publicly before you pitch it to publications.
![photo essay in home photo essay in home](https://efirq7mmtwd.exactdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/betterwithbirdspromo-1024x1024.png?lossy=1&ssl=1)
5 Strategies to Find the Positive Angle In Every Conservation Photo Story
Photo Stories and Essays , Tutorials
Training your brain to see the silver linings and solutions is essential in several ways, from engaging your audience to gaining the interest of editors. If you've been watching the news pretty much at all over the past couple of months, you know there's...
![photo essay in home How to Make Time for Photography (Even When Life Gets Busy)](https://efirq7mmtwd.exactdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/low-key-wildlife-photography-4919-1080x675.jpg?lossy=1&fit=1080%2C675&ssl=1)
How to Make Time for Photography (Even When Life Gets Busy)
Photography Business , Tutorials
It's easy to let your creative time slip to the back burner... or slip off the stove entirely. This surprisingly powerful tool will help you both make time for your photography AND make great forward progress on your projects. Contents Use timed focus...
![photo essay in home How to Create Personal Narrative Photo Stories That Viewers LOVE](https://efirq7mmtwd.exactdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/shaping-surfboards-3860-1080x675.jpg?lossy=1&fit=1080%2C675&ssl=1)
How to Create Personal Narrative Photo Stories That Viewers LOVE
Your personal perspective and experiences can be a powerful storytelling strategy. But there are ways to do it right (and wrong). Here are my top 3 tips for what to keep in mind when photographing a story that's your own personal narrative so that your story is...
![photo essay in home 6 Books That Forever Changed My Wildlife Conservation Photography](https://efirq7mmtwd.exactdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/minimalist-landscape-1449-1080x675.jpg?lossy=1&fit=1080%2C675&ssl=1)
6 Books That Forever Changed My Wildlife Conservation Photography
From how you approach being in the field and scouting locations, to how you approach the stories you photograph and communicate conservation issues, these 6 books are the (unconventional) must-read list for every conservation photographer. An...
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![photo essay in home photo essay in home](https://efirq7mmtwd.exactdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/PIN-create-a-Photo-essay.jpg?lossy=1&ssl=1)
Jaymi Heimbuch
Next up….
![photo essay in home 5 Strategies to Find the Positive Angle In Every Conservation Photo Story](https://efirq7mmtwd.exactdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/wilsons-warbler-3705-400x250.jpg?lossy=1&ssl=1)
How to train your brain to see solutions in photo stories so that you can engage your audience and gain the interest of editors.
![photo essay in home How to Make Time for Photography (Even When Life Gets Busy)](https://efirq7mmtwd.exactdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/low-key-wildlife-photography-4919-400x250.jpg?lossy=1&ssl=1)
This surprisingly powerful tool will help you both make time for your photography AND make great forward progress on your projects.
![photo essay in home How to Create Personal Narrative Photo Stories That Viewers LOVE](https://efirq7mmtwd.exactdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/shaping-surfboards-3860-400x250.jpg?lossy=1&ssl=1)
If you do these 3 things, you’ll have a share-worthy story your viewers feel connected to and inspired by.
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How to Create a Photo Essay
![photo essay in home photo essay in home](https://petapixel.com/assets/uploads/2022/05/photo-story-header-800x420.jpg)
The photographic essay, also called a photo essay or photo story, is a powerful way for photographers to tell a story with their images. If you are interested in creating your own photo essay, this article will guide you through the whole process, from finding a story to shoot to the basics of crafting your first visual narrative.
Table of Contents
What is a photo essay.
A photo essay tells a story visually. Just like the kind you read, the photo essay offers a complete rendering of a subject or situation using a series of carefully crafted and curated images. Photo stories have a theme, and each image backs up that overarching theme which is defined in the photo essay’s title and is sometimes supported with text.
From documentary to narrative to essay, photo stories are designed to move their audience, to inspire a certain action, awareness, or emotion. Photo stories are not just a collection of cool photos. They must use their visual power to capture viewers’ attention and remain unforgettable.
History of the Photo Story
In the “old days”, that is, before 1948, magazines ran photo stories very different from what we know today. They were staged, preconceived by an editor, not a truthful observation of life. Along came a photographer named W. Eugene Smith, who worked for Life magazine.
Deciding to follow a rural doctor for six weeks, he gathered material for a photo essay that really showed what it was like to be in that doctor’s shoes, always on the go to help his scattered patients. Smith’s piece, “ Country Doctor ,” shook other photographers out of their scripted stupor and revolutionized the way photographers report what they see.
![photo essay in home photo essay in home](https://petapixel.com/assets/uploads/2022/05/country-doctor-life-magazine-800x369.jpg)
From then on, photojournalism gained life and an audience through the lenses of legends like Robert Capa, Dorothea Lange, David “Chim” Seymour, Gordon Parks, Werner Bischof, and Henri Cartier-Bresson. The Vietnam War provided many examples for photo stories as represented by Philip Jones Griffiths, Catherine Leroy, and many more.
More recently, photo stories have found a sturdy home online thanks to the ease of publishing a series of photos digitally versus in print. Lynsey Addario, Peter Essick, and Adam Ferguson represent a few of the photographers pushing visual storytelling today.
![photo essay in home Dorothea Lange photo](https://petapixel.com/assets/uploads/2022/04/Lange-763x800.jpeg)
Ways to Find Photo Stories and Themes
Photo stories exist all around, right in the midst of everyday life and in the fray of current events. A good place to begin developing a photo essay is by choosing a general theme.
Topics that Interest You
The best expression comes from the heart, so why not choose a topic that interests you. Maybe it’s a social issue, an environmental one, or just something you’re curious about. Find what moves you and share that with the world.
Personal Experiences
The more you’ve lived, the more you have to tell. This doesn’t necessarily mean age, it can also refer to experiences, big and small. If you know a subject better than most, like what it’s like to recover from a car crash, you’re an expert on the matter and therefore you have a story to tell. Also, consider the things you read and see or watch, like news or history, and incorporate that into your search for a story.
![photo essay in home photo essay in home](https://petapixel.com/assets/uploads/2022/05/woman-photographing-800x450.jpg)
Problem/Solution
Problems abound in the world. But so do solutions. Photojournalists can present either, or both. Have a look at something that’s wrong in society and show why it’s a problem. Or find a problem that’s been resolved and show the struggle it took to get there. Even better, take your time shooting your story — sometimes it can take years — and document how a wrong is righted.
Day-in-the-Life
One of the most popular formats, day-in-the-life photo stories present microcosms of life that relate to the bigger picture. In a similar vein, behind-the-scenes photo stories show viewers what life is really like for others, especially in situations that are difficult or impossible to access. Events represent another simple yet powerful theme for documenting and storytelling with a camera.
![photo essay in home A Gordon Parks photo](https://petapixel.com/assets/uploads/2022/04/Parks-794x800.jpeg)
Types of Photo Stories
Most photo stories concern people. If it’s about something like the environment, for example, the photo story can showcase the people involved. In either case, the impactful photo story will present the challenges and dilemmas of the human condition, viscerally.
There are three general types of photo stories.
Narrative Story
Narrative deals with complications and their resolution, problems, and solutions. If there appears to be no resolution, at least the struggle to find one can provide material for a photo essay. Some sort of narrative thread must push the story from beginning to middle to end, just like what you see in a good movie.
A good story also requires action, which in this case must be visual. Good stories are page-turners, whether they’re a Kerouac tale or a series of photos demonstrating the difficulties of single parenting. Adventure stories are one good example of photographic narrative storytelling.
The term “photo story” is generally used interchangeably with “photo essay”, but some photographers hold that there are subtle differences between the two. The essay type of photo story implies opinion, they argue. Essays make a point. They are the opposite of facts-only news. A photo story essay makes a case for something, like showing the danger and consequences of illegal fireworks or advocating for the preservation of a forest.
Documentary
On the other hand, documentaries lack opinion. Their purpose is to inform without adding judgment. Documentaries present the facts and let viewers decide. They illustrate something that’s occurring but they don’t always include a narrative story or an opinionated approach. Historical places, current events, and unique lifestyles always make for good documentary photo stories.
![photo essay in home photo essay in home](https://petapixel.com/assets/uploads/2022/05/photo-of-Ottuk-Kyrgyzstan-by-Konrad-Lembcke-800x479.jpg)
How to Craft a Photo Essay
Several elements come into play when putting together a photo essay. Once you’ve found a theme, it’s time to give your project a name. While out shooting, jot down titles that come to mind. Consider the title a magazine headline that explains in few words what the whole story is about.
Choose your photos according to whether or not they relate to and support the photo essay’s title. Reject those photos that don’t. If your collection seems to suggest a different angle, a different title, don’t be afraid to rename it. Sometimes stories develop organically. But if your title can’t assemble and define your selection of photos, maybe it’s too vague. Don’t rush it. Identify the theme, take the photos and the photo essay will take shape.
![photo essay in home Werner Bischof photos](https://petapixel.com/assets/uploads/2022/04/Bischof2-800x592.jpeg)
Certain techniques help tell the photo essay.
A photo essay is composed of a diversity of views, angles, and focal lengths. While masters like Henri Cartier-Bresson could capture a photo essay with a single prime lens, in his case a 50mm, the rest of us are wise to rely on multiple focal lengths. Just like what we see in the movies, a story is told with wide shots that set the scene, medium shots that tell the story, and close-ups that reveal character and emotion.
Unique angles make viewers curious and interested, and they break the monotony of standard photography. Consider working black-and-white into your photo essay. The photo essay lends itself well to reportage exclusively in monochrome, as the legends have demonstrated since W. Eugene Smith.
Visual Consistency
The idea of a photo essay is to create a whole, not a bunch of random parts. Think gestalt. The images must interact with each other. Repetition helps achieve this end. Recurring themes, moods, styles, people, things, and perspectives work to unify a project even if the photos tell different parts of the story.
![photo essay in home photo essay in home](https://petapixel.com/assets/uploads/2022/05/photos-in-a-photo-story-800x230.jpg)
Text can augment the impact of a photo essay. A photo may be worth a thousand words, but it doesn’t always replace them. Captions can be as short as a complete sentence, as long as a paragraph, or longer. Make sure to take notes in case you want to add captions. Some photo stories, however, function just fine without words.
Tell a Story as a Photographer
Few genres of photography have moved people like the photo essay. Since its inception, the art of visual storytelling has captivated audiences. Photo stories show viewers things they had never seen, have moved masses to action, and have inspired video documentaries. Today, photo stories retain their power and place, in part thanks to the internet. Every photographer should experiment with a photo essay or two.
The method of crafting a photo essay is simple yet complicated, just like life. Careful attention must be paid to the selection of images, the choice of title, and the techniques used in shooting. But follow these guidelines and the photo stories will come. Seek issues and experiences that inspire you and go photograph them with the intention of telling a complete story. The viewing world will thank you.
Image credits: Header photo shows the May 13, 1957 story in LIFE magazine titled, “ The Tough Miracle Man of Vietnam .” Stock photos from Depositphotos
![photo essay in home photo essay in home](https://petapixel.com/assets/uploads/2017/04/sulfurminefeat.jpg)
23 Photo Essay Ideas and Examples (to Get Your Creative Juices Flowing!)
A Post By: Kevin Landwer-Johan
![photo essay in home Ideas for compelling photo essays](https://i0.wp.com/digital-photography-school.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/photo-essay-ideas-examples-1005.jpg?resize=1200%2C1164&ssl=1)
Looking for inspiration? Our 23 photo essay ideas will take your photography skills to new heights!
A single, strong photograph can convey a lot of information about its subject – but sometimes we have topics that require more than one image to do the job. That’s when it’s time to make a photo essay: a collection of pictures that together tell the bigger story around a chosen theme.
In the following sections, we’ll explore various photo essay ideas and examples that cover a wide range of subjects and purposes. From capturing the growth of your children to documenting local festivals, each idea offers an exciting opportunity to tell a story through your lens, whether you’re a hobbyist or a veteran professional.
So grab your camera, unleash your creativity, and let’s delve into the wonderful world of photo essay examples!
What is a photo essay?
Simply put, a photo essay is a series of carefully selected images woven together to tell a story or convey a message. Think of it as a visual narrative that designed to capture attention and spark emotions.
![photo essay in home Karen woman portrait](https://i0.wp.com/digital-photography-school.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/z_KL52629.jpg?resize=1500%2C1000&ssl=1)
Now, these images can revolve around a broad theme or focus on a specific storyline. For instance, you might create a photo essay celebrating the joy of companionship by capturing 10 heartwarming pictures of people sharing genuine laughter. On the other hand, you could have a photo essay delving into the everyday lives of fishermen in Wales by following a single fisherman’s journey for a day or even a week.
It’s important to note that photo essays don’t necessarily have to stick to absolute truth. While some documentary photographers prefer to keep it authentic, others may employ techniques like manipulation or staging to create a more artistic impact. So there is room for creativity and interpretation.
Why you should create a photo essay
Photo essays have a way of expressing ideas and stories that words sometimes struggle to capture. They offer a visual narrative that can be incredibly powerful and impactful.
Firstly, photo essays are perfect when you have an idea or a point you want to convey, but you find yourself at a loss for words. Sometimes, emotions and concepts are better conveyed through images rather than paragraphs. So if you’re struggling to articulate a message, you can let your photos do the talking for you.
Second, if you’re interested in subjects that are highly visual, like the mesmerizing forms of architecture within a single city, photo essays are the way to go. Trying to describe the intricate details of a building or the play of light and shadows with words alone can be challenging. But through a series of captivating images, you can immerse your audience in the architecture.
And finally, if you’re aiming to evoke emotions or make a powerful statement, photo essays are outstanding. Images have an incredible ability to shock, inspire, and move people in ways that words often struggle to achieve. So if you want to raise awareness about an environmental issue or ignite a sense of empathy, a compelling series of photographs can have a profound impact.
Photo essay examples and ideas
Looking to create a photo essay but don’t know where to start? Here are some handy essay ideas and examples for inspiration!
1. A day in the life
Your first photo essay idea is simple: Track a life over the course of one day. You might make an essay about someone else’s life. Or the life of a location, such as the sidewalk outside your house.
The subject matter you choose is up to you. But start in the morning and create a series of images showing your subject over the course of a typical day.
(Alternatively, you can document your subject on a special day, like a birthday, a wedding, or some other celebration.)
![photo essay in home woman with a backpack getting on a train photo essay ideas](https://i0.wp.com/digital-photography-school.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/z_LJ12071.jpg?resize=1500%2C998&ssl=1)
2. Capture hands
Portraits focus on a subject’s face – but why not mix it up and make a photo essay that focuses on your subject’s hands?
(You can also focus on a collection of different people’s hands.)
Hands can tell you a lot about a person. And showing them in context is a great way to narrate a story.
![photo essay in home people on a train](https://i0.wp.com/digital-photography-school.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/z_8LJ3158-Edit.jpg?resize=1500%2C998&ssl=1)
3. Follow a sports team for a full season
Sports are all about emotions – both from the passionate players and the dedicated fans. While capturing the intensity of a single game can be exhilarating, imagine the power of telling the complete story of a team throughout an entire season.
For the best results, you’ll need to invest substantial time in sports photography. Choose a team that resonates with you and ensure their games are within a drivable distance. By photographing their highs and lows, celebrations and challenges, you’ll create a compelling photo essay that traces their journey from the first game to the last.
4. A child and their parent
Photographs that catch the interaction between parents and children are special. A parent-child connection is strong and unique, so making powerful images isn’t challenging. You just need to be ready to capture the special moments as they happen.
You might concentrate on a parent teaching their child. Or the pair playing sports. Or working on a special project.
Use your imagination, and you’ll have a great time with this theme.
5. Tell a local artist’s story
I’ve always enjoyed photographing artists as they work; studios have a creative vibe, so the energy is already there. Bring your camera into this environment and try to tell the artist’s story!
An artist’s studio offers plenty of opportunities for wonderful photo essays. Think about the most fascinating aspects of the artist’s process. What do they do that makes their art special? Aim to show this in your photos.
Many people appreciate fine art, but they’re often not aware of what happens behind the scenes. So documenting an artist can produce fascinating visual stories.
![photo essay in home artist at work with copper](https://i0.wp.com/digital-photography-school.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/3LJ9644.jpg?resize=1500%2C998&ssl=1)
6. Show a tradesperson’s process
Do you have a plumber coming over to fix your kitchen sink? Is a builder making you a new deck?
Take photos while they work! Tell them what you want to do before you start, and don’t forget to share your photos with them.
They’ll probably appreciate seeing what they do from another perspective. They may even want to use your photos on their company website.
![photo essay in home hot iron in crucible](https://i0.wp.com/digital-photography-school.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/Hot-Silver.jpg?resize=1500%2C1001&ssl=1)
7. Photograph your kids as they grow
There’s something incredibly special about documenting the growth of our little ones. Kids grow up so quickly – before you know it, they’re moving out. Why not capture the beautiful moments along the way by creating a heartwarming photo essay that showcases their growth?
There are various approaches you can take, but one idea is to capture regular photos of your kids standing in front of a distinct point of reference, such as the refrigerator. Over a year or several years, you can gather these images and place them side by side to witness your childrens’ incredible transformations.
8. Cover a local community event
A school fundraiser, a tree-planting day at a park, or a parade; these are are all community events that make for good photo essay ideas.
Think like a photojournalist . What type of images would your editor want? Make sure to capture some wide-angle compositions , some medium shots, and some close-ups.
(Getting in close to show the details can often tell as much of a story as the wider pictures.)
9. Show fresh market life
Markets are great for photography because there’s always plenty of activity and lots of characters. Think of how you can best illustrate the flow of life at the market. What are the vendors doing that’s most interesting? What are the habits of the shoppers?
Look to capture the essence of the place. Try to portray the people who work and shop there.
![photo essay in home woman at the fresh market](https://i0.wp.com/digital-photography-school.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/Market-scene-in-Chiang-Mai-Moving-to-manual-mode.jpg?resize=1500%2C998&ssl=1)
10. Shoot the same location over time
What location do you visit regularly? Is there a way you can make an interesting photo essay about it?
Consider what you find most attractive and ugly about the place. Look for aspects that change over time.
Any outdoor location will look different throughout the day. Also think about the changes that occur from season to season. Create an essay that tells the story of the place.
11. Document a local festival
Festivals infuse cities and towns with vibrant energy and unique cultural experiences. Even if your own town doesn’t have notable festivals, chances are a neighboring town does. Explore the magic of these celebrations by documenting a local festival through your lens.
Immerse yourself in the festivities, arriving early and staying late. Capture the colorful displays and the people who make the festival come alive. If the festival spans multiple days, consider focusing on different areas each time you visit to create a diverse and comprehensive photo essay that truly reflects the essence of the event.
12. Photograph a garden through the seasons
It might be your own garden . It could be the neighbor’s. It could even be the garden at your local park.
Think about how the plants change during the course of a year. Capture photos of the most significant visual differences, then present them as a photo essay.
![photo essay in home lotus flower](https://i0.wp.com/digital-photography-school.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/Lotus-Flower.jpg?resize=1001%2C1500&ssl=1)
13. Show your local town or city
After spending several years in a particular area, you likely possess an intimate knowledge of your local town or city. Why not utilize that familiarity to create a captivating photo essay that showcases the essence of your community?
Delve into what makes your town special, whether it’s the charming streets, unique landmarks, or the people who shape its character. Dedicate time to capturing the diverse aspects that define your locale. If you’re up for a more extensive project, consider photographing the town over the course of an entire year, capturing the changing seasons and the dynamic spirit of your community.
14. Pick a local cause to highlight
Photo essays can go beyond passive documentation; they can become a part of your activism, too!
So find a cause that matters to you. Tell the story of some aspect of community life that needs improvement. Is there an ongoing issue with litter in your area? How about traffic; is there a problematic intersection?
Document these issues, then make sure to show the photos to people responsible for taking action.
15. Making a meal
Photo essay ideas can be about simple, everyday things – like making a meal or a coffee.
How can you creatively illustrate something that seems so mundane? My guess is that, when you put your mind to it, you can come up with many unique perspectives, all of which will make great stories.
![photo essay in home plate of Thai curry photo essay ideas](https://i0.wp.com/digital-photography-school.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/KL42522.jpg?resize=1423%2C1500&ssl=1)
16. Capture the life of a flower
In our fast-paced lives, it’s easy to overlook the beauty that surrounds us. Flowers, with their mesmerizing colors and rapid life cycles, offer a captivating subject for a photo essay. Try to slow down and appreciate the intricate details of a flower’s existence.
With a macro lens in hand, document a single flower or a patch of flowers from their initial shoots to their inevitable wilting and decomposition. Experiment with different angles and perspectives to bring viewers into the enchanting world of the flower. By freezing these fleeting moments, you’ll create a visual narrative that celebrates the cycle of life and the exquisite beauty found in nature’s delicate creations.
17. Religious traditions
Religion is often rich with visual expression in one form or another. So capture it!
Of course, you may need to narrow down your ideas and choose a specific aspect of worship to photograph. Aim to show what people do when they visit a holy place, or how they pray on their own. Illustrate what makes their faith real and what’s special about it.
![photo essay in home photo essay idea monks walking](https://i0.wp.com/digital-photography-school.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/KL57967.jpg?resize=1500%2C1001&ssl=1)
18. Historic sites
Historic sites are often iconic, and plenty of photographers take a snapshot or two.
But with a photo essay, you can illustrate the site’s history in greater depth.
Look for details of the location that many visitors miss. And use these to build an interesting story.
19. Show the construction of a building
Ever been away from a familiar place for a while only to return and find that things have changed? It happens all the time, especially in areas undergoing constant development. So why not grab your camera and document this transformation?
Here’s the idea: Find a building that’s currently under construction in your area. It could be a towering skyscraper, a modern office complex, or even a small-scale residential project. Whatever catches your eye! Then let the magic of photography unfold.
Make it a habit to take a photo every day or two. Watch as the building gradually takes shape and evolves. Capture the construction workers in action, the cranes reaching for the sky, and the scaffolding supporting the structure.
Once the building is complete, you’ll have a treasure trove of images that chronicle its construction from start to finish!
20. Document the changing skyline of the city
This photo essay example is like the previous one, except it works on a much larger scale. Instead of photographing a single building as it’s built, find a nice vantage point outside your nearest city, then photograph the changing skyline.
To create a remarkable photo essay showcasing the changing skyline, you’ll need to scout out the perfect vantage point. Seek high ground that offers a commanding view of the city, allowing you to frame the skyline against the horizon. Look for spots that give you an unobstructed perspective, whether a rooftop terrace, a hillside park, or even a nearby bridge.
As you set out on your photography expedition, be patient and observant. Cities don’t transform overnight; they change gradually over time. Embrace the passage of days, weeks, and months as you witness the slow evolution unfold.
Pro tip: To capture the essence of this transformation, experiment with various photographic techniques. Play with different angles, framing, and compositions to convey the grandeur and dynamism of the changing skyline. Plus, try shooting during the golden hours of sunrise and sunset , when the soft light bathes the city in a warm glow and accentuates the architectural details.
21. Photograph your pet
If you’re a pet owner, you already have the perfect subject for a photo essay!
All pets , with the possible exception of pet rocks, will provide you with a collection of interesting moments to photograph.
So collect these moments with your camera – then display them as a photo essay showing the nature and character of your pet.
![photo essay in home Woman and elephant](https://i0.wp.com/digital-photography-school.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/Thai-Model-and-Elephant-21a.jpg?resize=1500%2C1353&ssl=1)
22. Tell the story of a local nature preserve
Ah, the wonders of a local nature preserve! While it may not boast the grandeur of Yosemite National Park, these hidden gems hold their own beauty, just waiting to be discovered and captured through the lens of your camera.
To embark on this type of photo essay adventure, start by exploring all the nooks and crannies of your chosen nature preserve. Wander along its winding trails, keeping an eye out for unique and captivating subjects that convey the essence of the preserve.
As you go along, try to photograph the intricate details of delicate wildflowers, the interplay of light filtering through a dense forest canopy, and the lively activities of birds and other wildlife.
23. Show the same subject from multiple perspectives
It’s possible to create an entire photo essay in a single afternoon – or even in a handful of minutes. If you don’t love the idea of dedicating yourself to days of photographing for a single essay, this is a great option.
Simply find a subject you like, then endeavor to capture 10 unique images that include it. I’d recommend photographing from different angles: up above, down low, from the right and left. You can also try getting experimental with creative techniques, such as intentional camera movement and freelensing. If all goes well, you’ll have a very cool set of images featuring one of your favorite subjects!
By showcasing the same subject from multiple perspectives, you invite viewers on a visual journey. They get to see different facets, textures, and details that they might have overlooked in a single photograph. It adds depth and richness to your photo essay, making it both immersive and dynamic.
Photo essay ideas: final words
Remember: Photo essays are all about communicating a concept or a story through images rather than words. So embrace the process and use images to express yourself!
Whether you choose to follow a sports team through a thrilling season, document the growth of your little ones, or explore the hidden treasures of your local town, each photo essay has its own magic waiting to be unlocked. It’s a chance to explore your creativity and create images in your own style.
So look at the world around you. Grab your gear and venture out into the wild. Embrace the beauty of nature, the energy of a bustling city, or the quiet moments that make life special. Consider what you see every day. What aspects interest you the most? Photograph those things.
You’re bound to end up with some amazing photo essays!
Now over to you:
Do you have any photo essay examples you’re proud of? Do you have any more photo essay ideas? Share your thoughts and images in the comments below!
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18 Immersive Photo Essay Examples & Tips
By Tata Rossi 13 days ago, Professional photography
![photo essay in home photo essay in home](https://img.fixthephoto.com/blog/images/gallery/news_image_1027.jpg)
A photo essay tells a story or evokes emotion through a series of photographs. The essays allow you to be creative and fully explore an idea. Such essays exist in a variety of forms – from photos only to images with brief comments or written essays accompanied by shots. Choose a photo essay example that you can easily do based on your professional level and the equipment you use.
1. Protests
- View the “Resistance” photo essay by David Moore .
A great idea for photo essays for students is to shoot the protest to show its power. You can capture people with signs and banners to demonstrate what they are standing for. Besides, you can learn how to capture moving subjects. Use the best example of photo essay and don’t forget about angles, composition, and framing.
To create a photo essay , go up to the front and photograph the leader of the protesters walking forward. After that, go back to the end of the group to take pictures of families joining the protest. As a result, you will gain experience shooting big groups of people in motion.
2. Transformation
- View the “A Self-Portrait Every Day” photo essay by Noah Kalina .
This idea is all about capturing the way a person changes. You may take photos of a pregnant woman and then capture the same model with a child. By documenting the development of the child for several years, you can tell a great story in the form of a photo essay.
However, you can also create a photo essay about the transformation of different objects. For instance, you can create a time-lapse series to capture the history of a renovated building. While you will have to take a lot of similar photos to bring this idea to life, it will allow you to achieve an impressive result.
3. Local Event
- View the “Monday Marathon” photo essay by Quinn G. Perini .
Whether you are a resident of a large city or a small town, you can find an opportunity to visit a local event, like a marathon or a festival. This is a nice chance to follow modern photography trends and bring photo essay ideas to life.
You can capture the before-and-after stages of the event. Arrive earlier and take pictures of the preparation activities, then shoot the actual event starting with the official beginning.
Keep photographing even when the event is over and capture the cleaning up and disassembling processes.
4. Photowalk
- View the “Empty Campus” photo essay by Elise Trissel .
Explore the location where you live and find interesting objects to capture in the vicinity. Using the most interesting photo essay examples, you can decide how to make the best decisions. Don’t hurry and try to discover which angles you can use to capture the unique atmosphere of each place.
If you live in the city, you may capture architectural details, wide shots of busy streets, or just take photos of passersby and street signs. Think about the details that make every location unique. For instance, you can try capturing reflections to see how they allow you to see the city from an unusual angle. You can find reflections everywhere, so be sure to pay attention to mirrored buildings, puddles, and fountains.
5. Place Over Time
- View the “At Home in the Ozarks” photo essay by Kylee Cole .
If you want to document changes and show how the streets, buildings, and parks in your city change over time, select your favorite locations and start to visit them regularly to capture the way they look during different seasons.
- View the “Last Moments” photo essay by Ross Taylor .
You don’t necessarily have to focus on profound photo essay topics to evoke emotions. Capturing pets enjoying their worry-free and untroubled life seems like an easy but interesting activity.
Choose any animal – from a domestic bird to a dog, cat, or horse. For more emotional images, use such pet photography ideas when your pet is still a baby and recreate these shots when it is older or is in its final days.
7. Street Style
- View the Tribal Street Photography photo essay by Hans Eijkelboom .
People often express themselves with the help of clothes. The way passers-by on the streets are dressed may reflect the clothing style of a whole society. That’s why you can travel around the world and capture people’s outfits in various areas. When taking portrait photos in the streets, you can also include some of the surroundings to put them in the context.
You can ask people in the streets to pose for you or try to capture them in movement. Select a suitable location for taking photos and create a photo essay to document what kinds of people one can meet in this location. When doing urban photography , you should ask people for permission before taking photos of them. You can ask their contacts and send them your photos later.
8. Abandoned Building
- View the “Lost Collective” photo essay by Bret Pattman .
Old buildings are excellent architecture photography essay topics for students since you can capture a large number of elements. They allow you to imagine what a particular street looked like in the past. You may use a photo essay example for students as references.
Get approval before going in, but mind that such places are far from being totally safe. Bring various lenses: the macro lenses – for details and the wide-angle one – when you want to include many elements in one shot.
9. Alternative Lifestyles
- View the “Last Nomad Hippies” photo essay by Roberto Palomo .
Some people decide to lead a lifestyle that differs from the one generally accepted by society. Explore different areas and look for people with an unusual way of living. You can capture candid photos of regular people or take pictures of a person with an unusual hobby.
Take pictures of those, who reside in extraordinary conditions, representatives of various subcultures, or the LBGTQ community. These photo essay topics show other people that it is okay to go out of their comfort zone and run against the wind.
10. Social Issues
- View the “Juveniles in Prison” photo essay by Isadora Kosofsky .
The best photo essay examples for students are related to social issues, like unemployment, domestic violence, gender discrimination, and more. Address the topic carefully and look for a proper perspective.
Your shots may draw the people’s attention to a truly burning and relevant matter and have a stronger effect than any text.
11. Behind the Scenes
- View the “Follow Me” photo essay by Marius Masalar .
If you are going to visit an event, get ready to take some behind-the-scenes photos. For instance, you can document the preparations for a festival. Capture the work of the lead event planner and other professionals to tell the story of the festival from an unusual angle.
Alternatively, you can capture the events happening backstage during a drama production. Take pictures of actors and actresses when they are getting ready for the performance. Try capturing the emotions of the main lead and show how stage workers make final preparations. You can also document the work of designers and makeup professionals.
12. Landmarks
- View the “Volte-Face” photo essay by Oliver Curtis .
The pictures of landmarks are typically taken from a certain spot. One of the best photo essay ideas is to try shooting sights from various angles. You will also have an opportunity to improve your composition and your framing skills.
If you take a look at any pictorial essay example, you will see that the variety of perspectives is endless: through the streets, in the morning, afternoon, and evening, with a drone or including reflections.
• View the “Family” photo essay by Olivia Moore .
You can capture the way family members interact with each other and demonstrate the strong connection they share. In some cases, it makes sense to focus on capturing candid photos when doing family photography .
However, you may also opt for a different approach and focus on more difficult social topics. For instance, if you want to examine the issue of immigration, you can take pictures of a family from another country. In addition, you may show how families cope with other social issues, including poverty or unequal access to healthcare.
14. A Day in the Life
- View the “A Day in the Life of Carlos Gaytan” photo essay by Sandy Noto .
One of the best photo essays concepts is related to a day in a person’s life. The main character can be any person – a relative, family member, teacher, writer, or policeman.
People are generally interested in finding out facts about the lives and daily routines of others. The life of every human is incredible, especially if you learn it in more detail. This idea is especially suitable for taking documentary photos. For instance, you can select any photo essay sample you like and then capture a portrait of a person with the tools they use for their work.
15. Education
- View the “School Day” photo essay by Nancy Borowick .
You can also take great photos in the classroom capturing the interactions of teachers and their students. Avoid distracting them, as it will be easier for you to take natural shots. Using a variety of settings, you can make your photo essay more engaging. For instance, you may visit chemistry labs, capture teachers during a break, and take photos in other locations.
- View the “Meals From the Motherland” photo essay by James Tran .
You can also focus on specific meals to create a professional photo essay about food. To make it more attention-grabbing, try using different food photography ideas .
For instance, you can take photos of popular meals, capture the meals made by a specific person, or document cooking traditions in different countries. When taking photos in a restaurant, pay attention to the surroundings as well to capture the unique atmosphere of a place.
17. Capture the Neighbors
- View the “Our Neighbors” photo essay by Jeanne Martin .
Regardless of the place where you live, you have to establish good relationships with your neighbors. People who live nearby can also be great models for professionals who specialize in portrait photography. To implement this idea, make sure to capture people at home or in front of their houses to include some of the surroundings in your photo essay.
You will discover many interesting facts about people who live nearby. Shooting a photo essay will allow you to learn them better and establish a strong connection with them. This way, you can create a sense of community and discover what holds its members together.
18. Climate Change
- View the “Effects of Climate Change” photo essay by Sanya Gupta .
It is possible to a variety of photo story ideas bring to life examining the impact of climate change. Travel to places most affected by climate change, for instance, glaciers or famous resorts.
Capture the way the continuous drought has influenced the environment, animals, and the inhabitants. As an alternative, take pictures of environmentalist protests or inexhaustible energy sources.
Photo Essay Tips for Students
Explore your topic . An in-depth exploration of the main topic of your photo essay will help you find the best ideas for conveying your message. You can also find some sources for inspiration and useful materials. This stage allows you to learn more about your subject and select the best way of organizing your photo essay.
Create a storyboard . Using a storyboard, you can better understand what shots you need to take and what order can help you to tell a story in the best way. It will also allow you to create the right mood.
Take as many pictures as you can . To create a compelling story, make sure to take a lot of photos. It will allow you to choose the best pictures for your photo essay. Besides, you will always have backup photos if some of your pictures get damaged.
Experiment with different techniques . By changing the angle and using a variety of editing techniques, you can transform the way your photos look. When taking photos, try using different angles to capture the subject in the best way. You can also try changing the distance from the model, using black-and-white film, or employing a range of developing methods.
Add text . While some photographers create photo essays without text, it can still help you bring your point across more clearly and make it easier for a viewer to understand what you imply. By providing extra information, such as some facts, you can change the perception of your image. If you don’t know how to write descriptions, you can hire a professional writer to perform this task.
Enhance your photos . To edit your pictures, make sure to use professional photo editing software like Adobe Lightroom or Photoshop. Using the available tools, you can improve and change your photos. They allow you to fix issues with lighting, adjust WB, make colors richer, crop your pics to improve the composition, and perform other tasks. In case you need to edit your photos in a consistent style, you can use Photoshop Actions or Lightroom Presets.
In some cases, your pictures may require more advanced editing. If you see that your skills are insufficient or if you don’t have enough time, you can outsource the task of enhancing your photos to the FixThePhoto team. They will professionally enhance your pictures for a budget price. Their prices start from $1.50 per photo.
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What is a Photo Essay? 9 Photo Essay Examples You Can Recreate
A photo essay is a series of photographs that tell a story. Unlike a written essay, a photo essay focuses on visuals instead of words. With a photo essay, you can stretch your creative limits and explore new ways to connect with your audience. Whatever your photography skill level, you can recreate your own fun and creative photo essay.
9 Photo Essay Examples You Can Recreate
- Photowalk Photo Essay
- Transformation Photo Essay
- Day in the Life Photo Essay
- Event Photo Essay
- Building Photo Essay
- Historic Site or Landmark Photo Essay
- Behind the Scenes Photo Essay
- Family Photo Essay
- Education Photo Essay
Stories are important to all of us. While some people gravitate to written stories, others are much more attuned to visual imagery. With a photo essay, you can tell a story without writing a word. Your use of composition, contrast, color, and perspective in photography will convey ideas and evoke emotions.
To explore narrative photography, you can use basic photographic equipment. You can buy a camera or even use your smartphone to get started. While lighting, lenses, and post-processing software can enhance your photos, they aren’t necessary to achieve good results.
Whether you need to complete a photo essay assignment or want to pursue one for fun or professional purposes, you can use these photo essay ideas for your photography inspiration . Once you know the answer to “what is a photo essay?” and find out how fun it is to create one, you’ll likely be motivated to continue your forays into photographic storytelling.
1 . Photowalk Photo Essay
One popular photo essay example is a photowalk. Simply put, a photowalk is time you set aside to walk around a city, town, or a natural site and take photos. Some cities even have photowalk tours led by professional photographers. On these tours, you can learn the basics about how to operate your camera, practice photography composition techniques, and understand how to look for unique shots that help tell your story.
Set aside at least two to three hours for your photowalk. Even if you’re photographing a familiar place—like your own home town—try to look at it through new eyes. Imagine yourself as a first-time visitor or pretend you’re trying to educate a tourist about the area.
Walk around slowly and look for different ways to capture the mood and energy of your location. If you’re in a city, capture wide shots of streets, close-ups of interesting features on buildings, street signs, and candid shots of people. Look for small details that give the city character and life. And try some new concepts—like reflection picture ideas—by looking for opportunities to photographs reflections in mirrored buildings, puddles, fountains, or bodies of water.
2 . Transformation Photo Essay
With a transformation photography essay, you can tell the story about change over time. One of the most popular photostory examples, a transformation essay can document a mom-to-be’s pregnancy or a child’s growth from infancy into the toddler years. But people don’t need to be the focus of a transformation essay. You can take photos of a house that is being built or an urban area undergoing revitalization.
You can also create a photo narrative to document a short-term change. Maybe you want to capture images of your growing garden or your move from one home to another. These examples of photo essays are powerful ways of telling the story of life’s changes—both large and small.
3 . Day in the Life Photo Essay
Want a unique way to tell a person’s story? Or, perhaps you want to introduce people to a career or activity. You may want to consider a day in the life essay.
With this photostory example, your narrative focuses on a specific subject for an entire day. For example, if you are photographing a farmer, you’ll want to arrive early in the morning and shadow the farmer as he or she performs daily tasks. Capture a mix of candid shots of the farmer at work and add landscapes and still life of equipment for added context. And if you are at a farm, don’t forget to get a few shots of the animals for added character, charm, or even a dose of humor. These types of photography essay examples are great practice if you are considering pursuing photojournalism. They also help you learn and improve your candid portrait skills.
4 . Event Photo Essay
Events are happening in your local area all the time, and they can make great photo essays. With a little research, you can quickly find many events that you could photograph. There may be bake sales, fundraisers, concerts, art shows, farm markets, block parties, and other non profit event ideas . You could also focus on a personal event, such as a birthday or graduation.
At most events, your primary emphasis will be on capturing candid photos of people in action. You can also capture backgrounds or objects to set the scene. For example, at a birthday party, you’ll want to take photos of the cake and presents.
For a local or community event, you can share your photos with the event organizer. Or, you may be able to post them on social media and tag the event sponsor. This is a great way to gain recognition and build your reputation as a talented photographer.
5. Building Photo Essay
Many buildings can be a compelling subject for a photographic essay. Always make sure that you have permission to enter and photograph the building. Once you do, look for interesting shots and angles that convey the personality, purpose, and history of the building. You may also be able to photograph the comings and goings of people that visit or work in the building during the day.
Some photographers love to explore and photograph abandoned buildings. With these types of photos, you can provide a window into the past. Definitely make sure you gain permission before entering an abandoned building and take caution since some can have unsafe elements and structures.
6. Historic Site or Landmark Photo Essay
Taking a series of photos of a historic site or landmark can be a great experience. You can learn to capture the same site from different angles to help portray its character and tell its story. And you can also photograph how people visit and engage with the site or landmark. Take photos at different times of day and in varied lighting to capture all its nuances and moods.
You can also use your photographic essay to help your audience understand the history of your chosen location. For example, if you want to provide perspective on the Civil War, a visit to a battleground can be meaningful. You can also visit a site when reenactors are present to share insight on how life used to be in days gone by.
7 . Behind the Scenes Photo Essay
Another fun essay idea is taking photos “behind the scenes” at an event. Maybe you can chronicle all the work that goes into a holiday festival from the early morning set-up to the late-night teardown. Think of the lead event planner as the main character of your story and build the story about him or her.
Or, you can go backstage at a drama production. Capture photos of actors and actresses as they transform their looks with costuming and makeup. Show the lead nervously pacing in the wings before taking center stage. Focus the work of stagehands, lighting designers, and makeup artists who never see the spotlight but bring a vital role in bringing the play to life.
8. Family Photo Essay
If you enjoy photographing people, why not explore photo story ideas about families and relationships? You can focus on interactions between two family members—such as a father and a daughter—or convey a message about a family as a whole.
Sometimes these type of photo essays can be all about the fun and joy of living in a close-knit family. But sometimes they can be powerful portraits of challenging social topics. Images of a family from another country can be a meaningful photo essay on immigration. You could also create a photo essay on depression by capturing families who are coping with one member’s illness.
For these projects on difficult topics, you may want to compose a photo essay with captions. These captions can feature quotes from family members or document your own observations. Although approaching hard topics isn’t easy, these types of photos can have lasting impact and value.
9. Education Photo Essay
Opportunities for education photo essays are everywhere—from small preschools to community colleges and universities. You can seek permission to take photos at public or private schools or even focus on alternative educational paths, like homeschooling.
Your education photo essay can take many forms. For example, you can design a photo essay of an experienced teacher at a high school. Take photos of him or her in action in the classroom, show quiet moments grading papers, and capture a shared laugh between colleagues in the teacher’s lounge.
Alternatively, you can focus on a specific subject—such as science and technology. Or aim to portray a specific grade level, document activities club or sport, or portray the social environment. A photo essay on food choices in the cafeteria can be thought-provoking or even funny. There are many potential directions to pursue and many great essay examples.
While education is an excellent topic for a photo essay for students, education can be a great source of inspiration for any photographer.
Why Should You Create a Photo Essay?
Ultimately, photographers are storytellers. Think of what a photographer does during a typical photo shoot. He or she will take a series of photos that helps convey the essence of the subject—whether that is a person, location, or inanimate object. For example, a family portrait session tells the story of a family—who they are, their personalities, and the closeness of their relationship.
Learning how to make a photo essay can help you become a better storyteller—and a better photographer. You’ll cultivate key photography skills that you can carry with you no matter where your photography journey leads.
If you simply want to document life’s moments on social media, you may find that a single picture doesn’t always tell the full story. Reviewing photo essay examples and experimenting with your own essay ideas can help you choose meaningful collections of photos to share with friends and family online.
Learning how to create photo essays can also help you work towards professional photography ambitions. You’ll often find that bloggers tell photographic stories. For example, think of cooking blogs that show you each step in making a recipe. Photo essays are also a mainstay of journalism. You’ll often find photo essays examples in many media outlets—everywhere from national magazines to local community newspapers. And the best travel photographers on Instagram tell great stories with their photos, too.
With a photo essay, you can explore many moods and emotions. Some of the best photo essays tell serious stories, but some are humorous, and others aim to evoke action.
You can raise awareness with a photo essay on racism or a photo essay on poverty. A photo essay on bullying can help change the social climate for students at a school. Or, you can document a fun day at the beach or an amusement park. You have control of the themes, photographic elements, and the story you want to tell.
5 Steps to Create a Photo Essay
Every photo essay will be different, but you can use a standard process. Following these five steps will guide you through every phase of your photo essay project—from brainstorming creative essay topics to creating a photo essay to share with others.
Step 1: Choose Your Photo Essay Topics
Just about any topic you can imagine can form the foundation for a photo essay. You may choose to focus on a specific event, such as a wedding, performance, or festival. Or you may want to cover a topic over a set span of time, such as documenting a child’s first year. You could also focus on a city or natural area across the seasons to tell a story of changing activities or landscapes.
Since the best photo essays convey meaning and emotion, choose a topic of interest. Your passion for the subject matter will shine through each photograph and touch your viewer’s hearts and minds.
Step 2: Conduct Upfront Research
Much of the work in a good-quality photo essay begins before you take your first photo. It’s always a good idea to do some research on your planned topic.
Imagine you’re going to take photos of a downtown area throughout the year. You should spend some time learning the history of the area. Talk with local residents and business owners and find out about planned events. With these insights, you’ll be able to plan ahead and be prepared to take photos that reflect the area’s unique personality and lifestyles.
For any topic you choose, gather information first. This may involve internet searches, library research, interviews, or spending time observing your subject.
Step 3: Storyboard Your Ideas
After you have done some research and have a good sense of the story you want to tell, you can create a storyboard. With a storyboard, you can write or sketch out the ideal pictures you want to capture to convey your message.
You can turn your storyboard into a “shot list” that you can bring with you on site. A shot list can be especially helpful when you are at a one-time event and want to capture specific shots for your photo essay. If you’ve never created a photo essay before, start with ten shot ideas. Think of each shot as a sentence in your story. And aim to make each shot evoke specific ideas or emotions.
Step 4: Capture Images
Your storyboard and shot list will be important guides to help you make the most of each shoot. Be sure to set aside enough time to capture all the shots you need—especially if you are photographing a one-time event. And allow yourself to explore your ideas using different photography composition, perspective, and color contrast techniques.
You may need to take a hundred images or more to get ten perfect ones for your photographic essay. Or, you may find that you want to add more photos to your story and expand your picture essay concept.
Also, remember to look for special unplanned, moments that help tell your story. Sometimes, spontaneous photos that aren’t on your shot list can be full of meaning. A mix of planning and flexibility almost always yields the best results.
Step 5: Edit and Organize Photos to Tell Your Story
After capturing your images, you can work on compiling your photo story. To create your photo essay, you will need to make decisions about which images portray your themes and messages. At times, this can mean setting aside beautiful images that aren’t a perfect fit. You can use your shot list and storyboard as a guide but be open to including photos that weren’t in your original plans.
You may want to use photo editing software—such as Adobe Lightroom or Photoshop— to enhance and change photographs. With these tools, you can adjust lighting and white balance, perform color corrections, crop, or perform other edits. If you have a signature photo editing style, you may want to use Photoshop Actions or Lightroom Presets to give all your photos a consistent look and feel.
You order a photo book from one of the best photo printing websites to publish your photo story. You can add them to an album on a photo sharing site, such as Flickr or Google Photos. Also, you could focus on building a website dedicated to documenting your concepts through visual photo essays. If so, you may want to use SEO for photographers to improve your website’s ranking in search engine results. You could even publish your photo essay on social media. Another thing to consider is whether you want to include text captures or simply tell your story through photographs.
Choose the medium that feels like the best space to share your photo essay ideas and vision with your audiences. You should think of your photo essay as your own personal form of art and expression when deciding where and how to publish it.
Photo Essays Can Help You Become a Better Photographer
Whatever your photography ambitions may be, learning to take a photo essay can help you grow. Even simple essay topics can help you gain skills and stretch your photographic limits. With a photo essay, you start to think about how a series of photographs work together to tell a complete story. You’ll consider how different shots work together, explore options for perspective and composition, and change the way you look at the world.
Before you start taking photos, you should review photo essay examples. You can find interesting pictures to analyze and photo story examples online, in books, or in classic publications, like Life Magazine . Don’t forget to look at news websites for photojournalism examples to broaden your perspective. This review process will help you in brainstorming simple essay topics for your first photo story and give you ideas for the future as well.
Ideas and inspiration for photo essay topics are everywhere. You can visit a park or go out into your own backyard to pursue a photo essay on nature. Or, you can focus on the day in the life of someone you admire with a photo essay of a teacher, fireman, or community leader. Buildings, events, families, and landmarks are all great subjects for concept essay topics. If you are feeling stuck coming up with ideas for essays, just set aside a few hours to walk around your city or town and take photos. This type of photowalk can be a great source of material.
You’ll soon find that advanced planning is critical to your success. Brainstorming topics, conducting research, creating a storyboard, and outlining a shot list can help ensure you capture the photos you need to tell your story. After you’ve finished shooting, you’ll need to decide where to house your photo essay. You may need to come up with photo album title ideas, write captions, and choose the best medium and layout.
Without question, creating a photo essay can be a valuable experience for any photographer. That’s true whether you’re an amateur completing a high school assignment or a pro looking to hone new skills. You can start small with an essay on a subject you know well and then move into conquering difficult ideas. Maybe you’ll want to create a photo essay on mental illness or a photo essay on climate change. Or maybe there’s another cause that is close to your heart.
Whatever your passion, you can bring it to life with a photo essay.
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Advice for an Unforgettable Photo Essay
Six steps for turning your images into a memorable photo essay, from curating your best work to crafting a title.
![photo essay in home taylor_dorrell_cuba_photo_essay](https://www.format.com/wp-content/uploads/taylor_dorrell_cuba_photo_essay.jpg)
A man sits alone on a chair on the side of the road. We see him from above, surrounded by grey cobblestones neatly placed, a broken plastic chair, and some pylons scattered along the curb. A street cat wanders out of the frame and away from the man. He appears lonely, the only person inhabiting the place in which he seems so comfortably seated. As the eye wanders throughout the frame, however, the viewer discovers more: a vast city cast beyond the street and behind the man’s chair. This image closes Sarah Pannell’s photo essay Sehir , a quiet study of urban life.
Possibilities, discovery, and stories: these are some of the most effective elements of a photo essay. Collections of images can help produce a narrative, evoke emotion, and guide the viewer through one or more perspectives. A well-executed photo essay doesn’t rely on a title or any prior knowledge of its creator; it narrates on its own, moving viewers through sensations, lessons, and reactions.
Famous photo essays like Country Doctor by W. Eugene Smith or Gordon Parks’ The Harlem Family are acclaimed for showing a glimpse into the lives of the sick and impoverished. Other well-made photo essays offer a new way to look at the everyday, such as Peter Funch’s much-reposted photo series 42nd and Vanderbilt , for which Funch photographed the same street corner for nine years. As shown by these photographers’ experiences with the medium, a collection of photos can enliven spaces and attitudes. Strong photo essays can give voice to marginalized individuals and shine a spotlight on previously overlooked experiences.
You don’t necessarily need to be a documentary photographer to create a powerful photo essay. Photo essays can showcase any topic, from nature photography to portraiture to wedding shots. We spoke to a few photographers to get their perspectives on what makes a good photo essay, and their tips for how any photographer can get started in this medium. Here are six steps to follow to create a photo essay that tells a memorable story.
Choose a specific topic or theme for your photo essay.
There are two types of photo essays: the narrative and the thematic. Narrative photo essays focus on a story you’re telling the viewer, while thematic photo essays speak to a specific subject.
The most natural method for choosing a topic or theme for your photo essay is to go with what you know. Photograph what you experience. Whether that includes people, objects, or the things you think about throughout the day, accessibility is key here. Common topics or concepts to start with are emotions (depicting sadness or happiness) or experiences (everyday life, city living).
For photographer Sharon Pannen , planning a photo essay is as simple as “picking out a subject you find interesting or you want to make a statement about.”
![photo essay in home sharon_pannen_photo_essay](https://www.format.com/wp-content/uploads/sharon_pannen_photo_essay.jpg)
From Paper & Stories , a photo series by Sharon Pannen for Schön! Magazine.
Consider your photo subjects.
The subjects of your photographs, whether human or not, will fill the space of your photos and influence the mood or idea you’re trying to depict. The subject can determine whether or not your photos are considered interesting. “I always try to find someone that catches my eye. I especially like to see how the light falls on their face and how a certain aesthetic might add to their persona,” says photographer Victoria Wojtan .
While subjects and their interest factor are, well, subjective, when considering your subjects, you should ask yourself about your audience. Do other people want to see this? Is my subject representative of the larger idea my photo essay is trying to convey? Your projects can involve people you know or people you’ve only just met.
“Most projects I work on involve shooting portraits of strangers, so there’s always a tension in approaching someone for a portrait,” says photographer Taylor Dorrell . For Wojtan, that tension can help build trust with a subject and actually leads to more natural images “If there’s tension it’s usually because the person’s new to being photographed by someone for something that’s outside of a candid moment or selfie, and they need guidance for posing. This gives me the opportunity to make them feel more comfortable and let them be themselves. I tend to have a certain idea in mind, but try to allow for organic moments to happen.”
Aim for a variety of images.
Depending on your theme, there are a few types of photos you’ll want to use to anchor your essay. One or two lead photos should slowly introduce the viewer to your topic. These initial photos will function in a similar way to the introductory paragraph in a written essay or news article.
From there, you should consider further developing your narrative by introducing elements like portraiture, close ups, detail shots, and a carefully selected final photo to leave the viewer with the feeling you set out to produce in your photos. Consider your opening and closing images to be the most important elements of your photo essay, and choose them accordingly. You want your first images to hook the viewer, and you also want your final images to leave a lasting impression and perhaps offer a conclusion to the narrative you’ve developed.
Including different types of photos, shot at different ranges, angles, and perspectives, can help engage your viewer and add more texture to your series.
Says photographer Taylor Dorrell: “After I have a group of images, I tend to think about color, composition, the order the images were taken, the subject material, and relevance to the concept.”
![photo essay in home Photo_Essay_Taylor_Dorrell](https://www.format.com/wp-content/uploads/Photo_Essay_Taylor_Dorrell.jpg)
From Taylor Dorrell’s photo essay White Fences : “White Fences is an ongoing photo series that explores the theme of suburban youth in the United States, specifically in the midwest suburb New Albany, Ohio.”
Put your emotions aside.
Self-doubt can easily come into play when working with your own photography. The adage that we are our own worst critics is often true. It can be difficult to objectively select your strongest images when creating a photo essay. This is why putting together photo essays is such a useful practice for developing your curatorial skills.
“The most important part for me is getting outside opinions. I don’t do that enough, and have a bias in selecting images that might not be the most powerful images or the most effective sequence of images,” says Dorrell. Your own perception of a photograph can cloud your ability to judge whether or not it adds to your photo essay. This is especially true when your essay deals with personal subjects. For example, a photo essay about your family may be hard to evaluate, as your own feelings about family members will impact how you take and view the photos. This is where getting feedback from peers can be invaluable to producing a strong series.
Collecting feedback while putting your photo essay together can help you determine the strengths, weaknesses, and gaps within the collection of photos you’ve produced. Ask your friends to tell you their favorites, why they like them, and what they think you’re going for in the work you’ve created. Their opinions can be your guide, not just your own emotions.
Edit your photo selection.
Beyond post-production, the series of photos you select as your essay will determine whether you’ve executed your theme or narrative effectively. Can the photos stand alone, without written words, and tell the story you set out to? Do they make sense together, in a logical sequence? The perfect photo essay will give your audience a full picture of the narrative, theme, or essence you’re looking to capture.
A good method to use to cull your images down is to remove as many as half of your images straight away to see if your narrative is still as strong with fewer photos. Or, perhaps, deciding on a small number you’d like to aim for (maybe just five to ten images) and using this as a method to narrow down to the images that tell your story best.
![photo essay in home Taylor_Dorrell_Photo_Essay](https://www.format.com/wp-content/uploads/Taylor_Dorrell_Photo_Essay.jpg)
From Taylor Dorrell’s photo essay Over the Rhine , featured in Vice.
Give your photo essay a title, and add a concise written statement.
Finally, you’ll want to create a title and written statement for your photo essay. This will help position your work and can enable the viewer to fully understand your intention, or at least guide their perspective.
A solid written statement and title will be relevant to your topic, detail your primary objective, and introduce your point of view. It’s an opportunity to clarify your intentions to the viewer and ensure they walk away with a clear interpretation of your work. Depending on your photo essay, you may want to include several paragraphs of text, but even just one or two sentences of background can be enough to expand the viewer’s understanding of your work.
Consider if you’d like to add the written statement at the beginning of your essay to introduce it, or at the end as a conclusion. Either one can be impactful, and it depends how you’d like people to experience your work.
For his photo essay White Fences, excerpted above, Taylor Dorrell wrote only one sentence of introduction. But for his series Over the Rhine, Dorell included a longer written statement to accompany the work, which is “an ongoing photo series that seeks to explore the Cincinnati neighborhood of the same name and its surroundings. The series was started in response to the shooting of Samuel DuBose, an unarmed black man, by officer Ray Tensing of the University of Cincinnati Police, which happened July 19th, 2015.” Dorell’s text goes on to offer more background on the project, setting up the viewer with all the information they need to understand the context of the photo essay.
Depending on the motivations behind your photo essay and what sort of subject it depicts, a longer text may be necessary—or just a few words might be enough.
Looking for a place to share your photo essays with the world? Take a look at our guide to creating a photography website for tips on showcasing your photos online.
Cover image by Taylor Dorrell, from his photo essay Hurricane Over Sugar .
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If you’re looking for a photo essay example (or 17!), you’ve come to the right place. But what is the purpose of a photo essay? A photo essay is intended to tell a story or evoke emotion from the viewers through a series of photographs. They allow you to be creative and fully explore an idea. But how do you make one yourself? Here’s a list of photo essay examples. Choose one that you can easily do based on your photographic level and equipment.
Top 17 Photo Essay Examples
Here are some fantastic ideas to get you inspired to create your own photo essays!
17. Photograph a Protest
![photo essay in home Street photography of a group of people protesting.](https://expertphotography.b-cdn.net/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/photo-essay-protest-1.jpg)
16. Transformation Photo Essays
![photo essay in home A photo essay example shot of a couple, the man kissing the pregnant womans stomach](https://expertphotography.b-cdn.net/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/photo-essay-transformation-1.jpg)
15. Photograph the Same Place
![photo essay in home A photo essay example photography grid of 9 photographs.](https://expertphotography.b-cdn.net/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/photo-essay-sameplace-1.jpg)
14. Create a Photowalk
![photo essay in home Street photography photo essay shot of a photographer in the middle of the street](https://expertphotography.b-cdn.net/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/photo-essays-photowalk-1-1.jpg)
13. Follow the Change
![photo essay in home Portrait photography of a man shaving in the mirror. Photo essay examples.](https://expertphotography.b-cdn.net/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/photo-essays-change-1.jpg)
12. Photograph a Local Event
![photo essay in home Documentary photography essay of a group of people at an event by a lake.](https://expertphotography.b-cdn.net/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/photo-essays-event-1-1.jpg)
11. Photograph an Abandoned Building
![photo essay in home Atmospheric and dark photo of the interior of an abandoned building as part of a photo-essay](https://expertphotography.b-cdn.net/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/photo-essays-abandoned-1-1.jpg)
10. Behind the Scenes of a Photo Shoot
![photo essay in home Photograph of models and photographers behind the scenes at a photo shoot. Photo essay ideas.](https://expertphotography.b-cdn.net/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/photo-essays-bts-1-1.jpg)
9. Capture Street Fashion
![photo essay in home Street photography portrait of a girl outdoors at night.](https://expertphotography.b-cdn.net/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/photo-essay-street-style-1.jpg)
8. Landmark Photo Essay
![photo essay in home 9 photo grid of the Eiffel tour. Photo essays examples.](https://expertphotography.b-cdn.net/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/photo-essays-landmark-1-1.jpg)
7. Fathers & Children
![photo essay in home An essay photo of the silhouettes of a man and child standing in a dark doorway.](https://expertphotography.b-cdn.net/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/photo-essay-dark-1.jpg)
6. A Day In the Life
![photo essay in home Photo essay examples of a bright red and orange building under blue sky.](https://expertphotography.b-cdn.net/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/photo-essay-day-in-the-life-of-1.jpg)
5. Education Photo Essay
![photo essay in home Documentary photoessay example shot of a group of students in a classroom watching their teacher](https://expertphotography.b-cdn.net/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/photo-essay-education-1.jpg)
4. Fictitious Meals
![photo essay in home Photo essay detail of someone placing a sugar cube into a cup of tea.](https://expertphotography.b-cdn.net/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/photo-essays-meals-1-1.jpg)
3. Photograph Coffee Shops Using Cafenol
![photo essay in home A photo of a coffee shop interior created with cafenol.](https://expertphotography.b-cdn.net/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/photo-essay-cafe-1.jpg)
2. Photograph the Photographers
![photo essay in home Street photography of a group of media photographers.](https://expertphotography.b-cdn.net/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/photo-essay-photographers-1.jpg)
1. Capture the Neighbors
![photo essay in home Street photography of 2 pink front doors of brick houses.](https://expertphotography.b-cdn.net/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/photo-essay-front-doors-1.jpg)
Photo essays tell stories. And there are plenty of amazingly interesting stories to tell! Photographing photo essays is a great way to practice your photography skills while having fun. You might even learn something! These photo essay examples are here to provide you with the inspiration to go out and tell your own stories through photos!
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How to create a photo essay
- Author Picfair
- Level Intermediate
- Reading Time 8 minutes
Cover images by James Gourley
Create a meaningful set of images by producing a photo essay or story
A photographic essay is a deeper and more meaningful way to use your photography than a single image tends to be. Typically associated with documentary and news-gathering, a photo essay doesn’t necessarily have to follow those genres, but can be used as a way to tell a longer or more in-depth story about all manner of subjects. Creating a photo essay however is about more than just taking a set of images and presenting them as one package. They require more forethought, planning and editing than many other forms of photography, but the results are often more rewarding, too. Follow our guide below if it’s something you’d like to consider putting together.
1 Find a story
The first thing you will need to do is to figure out what you want to do your photo essay on.
"Inspiration can come from anywhere, but a good starting to place is to look at news sources to see if something catches your eye."
Inspiration can come from anywhere, but a good starting to place is to look at news sources to see if something catches your eye. If you’re not sure where to begin, you could start by looking at what’s going on in your local area - if nothing else, it’ll make the practicalities easier. Start jotting down ideas that you can explore and figure out exactly why you want to do it. Try to be as active as you can in discovering what’s going on in the world and eventually something will keep your attention for long enough that it will seem like the right idea.
![photo essay in home photo essay in home](https://cdn.prod.website-files.com/5f58a077d654db1a689fd95b/610d176bb36d7c4c25d157fe_Peru-2.jpg)
2 Do your research
Next, try and find out as much as you can about whatever it is you want to create your photo story on.
"If you find that others have done photo essays on the same or similar subject, then that’s something you should be aware of."
Importantly, you’ll need to see what else already exists out there - if anything - on your story. If you find that others have done photo essays on the same or similar subject, then that’s something you should be aware of. That’s not to say that you can’t also do one, but it pays to be prepared so that you can perhaps approach it in a different way. You’ll also need to do some research into the practicalities that will be required to help you along the way. You’ll need to look into people you should be contacting, how you will get to the destination (if it’s not local), any requirements you need for visiting the location, any restrictions on what you can and cannot shoot and so on. Doing as much research ahead of time as possible will make the project run smoothly when it comes to actually shooting it.
![photo essay in home photo essay in home](https://cdn.prod.website-files.com/5f58a077d654db1a689fd95b/610d52444fb935bf014f3174_picfair-013588196-street-improv-performance-fu-PREVIEW-ONLY%20(1).jpg)
3 Make a structured plan
Once your research is complete, it’s time to make a detailed and structured plan about how you’re going to go about shooting your photo essay. It doesn’t have to be completely rigid so as to disallow flexibility, but sorting out shoot times, shoot dates, shoot locations will give you something to work with, even if things eventually go off plan. Some photo essays can be shot in an afternoon, others might take several months or even years to complete. Having an idea of how long you want to spend on a particular project can help focus your mind and give you an end date for when you might want to publish the essay. It’s also useful to tell subjects and those involved with the shoot a rough timeline of events. You might find it helpful to organise everything together in one easily accessible place - such as online calendars and spreadsheets, so you can quickly refer to anything you need to.
![photo essay in home photo essay in home](https://cdn.prod.website-files.com/5f58a077d654db1a689fd95b/610d50d0ab30492594b48157_picfair-011952723-north-korea-fu-PREVIEW-ONLY.jpg)
4 Tell a story
Your photo essay needs to be more than just a set of images on a similar theme.
"...including some introductory or contextualising shots before you get into the heart of the subject matter is a good approach."
Think of it exactly like a story, which usually requires a beginning, a middle and an end. That’s a very simplistic way of putting it, but photographically, including some introductory or contextualising shots before you get into the heart of the subject matter is a good approach. There might not necessarily be a neat “resolution” to whatever story you’re trying to tell, and it might not always be a happy ending, but having that at least in your mind as you go along can help to create a neatly-packaged story that has a definite and well-constructed narrative.
![photo essay in home photo essay in home](https://cdn.prod.website-files.com/5f58a077d654db1a689fd95b/610d233964ffaf89221ce472_North%20Korea.jpg)
5 Stick with a cohesive style
Exactly how you’re going to shoot your photo essay is entirely up to you, but in order for your story to have a cohesive look, it’s usually best if you stick to the same style throughout.
"With a photo essay, you want the images to hang extremely well together as a set, so keeping things consistent will help you do that..."
That could be as simple as not mixing black and white and colour, always using a particular lens, always shooting in a particular way, or even applying the same post-processing techniques to the finished shots. With a photo essay, you want the images to hang extremely well together as a set, so keeping things consistent will help you do that - that is, unless you’re actively trying to use disparate styles as an artistic or storytelling technique.
![photo essay in home photo essay in home](https://cdn.prod.website-files.com/5f58a077d654db1a689fd95b/610d51b898e14f5bca5b42ea_picfair-013278231-post-office-mural-in-chernobyl-fu-PREVIEW-ONLY.jpg)
5 Create a strong edit
The chances are that in the process of creating your photo essay, you will have shot dozens, if not hundreds of images.
"It can help to step away from your essay for at least a few days if you can to give yourself some distance and perspective - don’t be afraid to be brutal and keep your final selection down to only those that are the strongest or the best."
For the final edit of your photo story, you need to make sure that the images selected to appear are the strongest of the set, with each adding something unique to the finished story. Try to avoid “padding out” your story with too many fillers, even if you think they are strong images on their own. It’s a good idea to avoid too much repetition, and here again you should look to include images that create a strong story arc with a defined beginning, middle and end. It can help to step away from your essay for at least a few days if you can to give yourself some distance and perspective - don’t be afraid to be brutal and keep your final selection down to only those that are the strongest or the best. There’s no defined number for how many images should be included in a final story, but as a general rule, you’ll probably want it to be under 20 for the most impact.
![photo essay in home photo essay in home](https://cdn.prod.website-files.com/5f58a077d654db1a689fd95b/610d52c52191053a1e91dd88_picfair-08632028-american-gothic-fu-PREVIEW-ONLY.jpg)
6 Ask for input
It’s very easy to get so close to your subject and your images that you become blind to any flaws in them, or the structure of your story. Asking for advice and input from somebody you trust can help to tighten up your story even further.
"Asking for advice and input from somebody you trust can help to tighten up your story even further."
In certain situations, it can be helpful to ask the subject of the photographs themselves what they think, to make it more of a collaborative process - but you should be able to determine whether that’s appropriate on a case-by-case basis. If you have any contacts who are photographers, editors or publishers, asking them to cast an eye over your finished story is a good idea, too.
7 Add some text
It can be a good idea to add some text or individual captions for a photo essay, to give some background information and context to whatever is shown in the pictures. If you’re not a writer, try to keep it as basic as possible - including things such as names, locations and dates. A short introduction to the piece to give some background information is useful, too. Ask somebody you trust to check it over for sense, clarity and mistakes.
![photo essay in home photo essay in home](https://cdn.prod.website-files.com/5f58a077d654db1a689fd95b/610d4c58ad26b5d6b73fdc11_picfair-07987432-mountain-children-fu-PREVIEW-ONLY.jpg)
8 Get the story seen
Once your story is complete and you’re happy with it, the next stage is to get it seen - also known as, the hard part.
"Once your story is complete and you’re happy with it, the next stage is to get it seen - also known as, the hard part."
A sensible first step is to create an album on your Picfair store which is dedicated to your photo essay. That way, anybody who is looking for that particular piece won’t have to wade through all of your other work to find it. You can then start sending out information about the work to editors and publishers, including a link to the album on your Picfair page as an easy way for them to look at it.
![photo essay in home photo essay in home](https://cdn.prod.website-files.com/5f58a077d654db1a689fd95b/610d546d22bc48937290a557_Share%20url.jpg)
Editor's tip: If you're not sure where to begin with pitching to publishers, be sure to check our how to pitch guide .
![photo essay in home photo essay in home](https://cdn.prod.website-files.com/5f58a077d654db1a689fd95b/610d3fd30ab15344ad01adff_Store%20description.jpg)
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Ten examples of immersive photo essays
![photo essay in home Camera sitting on a tripod, overlooking a mountain scene](https://shorthand.com/./assets/5wTVV58HJo/pexels-photomix-company-212372-3936x2624.jpeg)
By Marissa Sapega — Contributing Writer
Photo essays are one of the most powerful forms of storytelling in the last century. From the great depression photographer W. Eugene Smith to the photojournalism of National Geographic or Life Magazine , the best photo essays entertain, educate, and move readers more than words alone ever could.
But photo essays have changed. Over the last decade, web publishing technologies — including web browsers and file formats — have improved by leaps and bounds. A good photo essays today is more than a collection of images. It’s a truly interactive, immersive, and multimedia experiences.
In this guide, we introduce 10 stunning examples of visually arresting interactive photo essays to fuel your creative juices.
Now, let's set the scene with a short introduction to immersive, interactive photo essays on the web.
What do the BBC, Tripadvisor, and Penguin have in common? They craft stunning, interactive web content with Shorthand. And so can you! Publish your first story for free — no code or web design skills required. Sign up now.
The rise of immersive, interactive photo essays
What is an immersive, interactive photo essay? Let's take these terms one at a time.
An immersive photo essay uses rich media and story design to capture and keep the reader's attention. Immersive content is typically free of the most distracting elements of the web, such as pop-ups, skyscrapers, and other intrusions on the reading experience.
As a basic rule of thumb, immersive content respects the reader's attention.
An interactive photo essay is one that allows the reader to control how the content appears. It may include interactive elements, like maps and embedded applications.
More commonly, modern interactive photo stories use a technique known as scrollytelling . Scrollytelling stories allow the reader to trigger animations and other visual effects as they scroll. Many of the examples in this guide use scrollytelling techniques. Read more scrollytelling examples .
Until relatively recently, immersive, interactive photo essays could only be created with the help of a designer or web developer. But with the rise of digital storytelling platforms , anyone can create compelling, dynamic stories without writing a single line of code.
If you're looking to learn more about how to create a photo essay — or are looking for more photo essay ideas — check out our introduction to photo essays .
Photo essay topics
If you’re looking for photo essay examples, chances are you’re looking to create a photo essay for yourself. If you’re just getting started, you might want some guidance on exactly what kinds of topics make for great photo essays.
More experienced photographers — feel free to skip this section. But for those who are just starting out, here’s a quick list of classic photo essay subject matter, for all types of photo essays.
- Local events. A great way to start out is photograph local events in your community, such as a high school fundraiser. A bonus is that you’ll have a ready
- Historic sites. Another classic photo essay topic is an exploration of a historic site. This could be a building, a monument, or even just a specific location that has significance.
- Profile of a person. A great way to get to know someone is to profile them in a photo essay. This could be a family member, friend, or even just someone you’ve met.
- Animals in captivity. Another popular subject matter for photo essays is animals in captivity, whether that’s at a zoo or elsewhere.
- A day in the life. Have you ever wondered what it’s like to live someone else’s life for a day? Why not find out and document it in a photo essay?
- Street photography. Another great way to practice your photography skills is to head out into the streets and photograph the everyday lives of people around you. The world has plenty of photo essays of cities like New York and London. But what about street photography in your own backyard?
- Still life photography. Still life photography is all about capturing inanimate objects on film. This could be anything from flowers to furniture to food. It’s a great way to practice your photography skills and learn about composition
- Landscapes . Landscape photography is one of the most popular genres, and for good reason. There are endless possibilities when it comes to finding interesting subjects to shoot. So get out there and start exploring!
- Abandoned buildings. There’s something fascinating about abandoned buildings. They offer a glimpse into the past, and can be eerily beautiful. If you have any in your area, they make for great photo essay subjects.
- Lifestyles. Document someone who lives a lifestyle that’s different from your own. This could be a portrayal of an everyday person, or it could be someone with an unusual job or hobby.
- Social issues. Take photos depicting significant social issues in your community, remembering to respect your subjects.
Ten inspiring photo essay examples
![photo essay in home](https://shorthand.com/./assets/r5jdSC3lCT/www-nature-com_immersive_d41586-021-02059-8_index-33-4096x2573.jpeg)
Pink lagoon and peculiar galaxies — July’s best science images
![photo essay in home](https://shorthand.com/./assets/WGtwM2oYdC/www-nature-com_immersive_d41586-021-02059-8_index-html-4096x2573.jpeg)
In Pink lagoon and peculiar galaxies , Nature present a mesmerising series of images from the natural world. Highlights include:
- a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it photo of rare albino orcas performing feats of synchronized swimming;
- an arresting aerial view of the aftermath of the flash floods in Germany; and,
- a scarlet gawping Venus flytrap sea anemone.
The best part? Nature publishes similarly powerful photo essays every month, showcasing some of the best and most creative photography of the natural world anywhere on the web.
![photo essay in home Pink lagoon and peculiar galaxies — July’s best science images](https://shorthand.com/./assets/oCSCnjVKQn/01-landscape-4096x1691.jpeg)
Vanishing Lands
![photo essay in home A plain, with a lake and mountains in the distance, from Vanishing lands — an ominously interesting photo essay from media company Stuff](https://shorthand.com/./assets/mNpidACYcX/screen-shot-2021-11-03-at-22-07-45-2414x1376.jpeg)
Vanishing lands — an ominously interesting photo essay from media company Stuff — opens with a bucolic visual featuring meandering sheep flanked by breathtaking mountains that blur into obscurity.
Soon, more awe-inspiring photos of breathtaking New Zealand farmland appear, accompanied by expressive prose whose tone matches the visuals’ stark beauty.
In this unflinchingly honest photographic essay, Stuff takes the viewer behind the scenes with a day in the life of a high country sheep farmer facing an uncertain future. One stunning photo fades into the next as you scroll through, broken only by the occasional noteworthy quote and accompanying narrative.
![photo essay in home Screenshots from Vanishing lands — an ominously interesting photo essay from media company Stuff](https://shorthand.com/./assets/WmtuN6dBvS/03-landscape-4096x2189.jpeg)
Olympic photos: Emotion runs high
![photo essay in home An athlete is a karate uniform lying flat on the ground](https://shorthand.com/./assets/6SNu15pDnJ/oly-emotional-moments-judo-mc-inline-210728-20-2278x1484-1-2278x1484.jpeg)
This emotionally wrought sports story from NBC begins with a close-up of an anxious Simone Biles, her expression exemplifying the tension and frustration echoed on so many of her fellow athletes’ faces.
The subtitle puts it perfectly: “The agony—and thrill—of competition at the Olympics is written all over their faces.”
Devastation, disappointment, and defeat take centre stage in this piece — but not all the subjects of the photos in this compelling photography essay depict misery. Some of the images, like that taken of the gold medal-winning Russian artistic gymnasts, manage to project the athletes’ joy almost beyond the edges of the screen.
The NBC editors who created this visual story chose to display the series of photos using the entire screen width and limit the copy to simple captions, letting the visuals speak for themselves. The result is a riveting montage of photographs that manage to capture the overarching sentiment of the 2020 Olympic Games.
![photo essay in home Screenshots from an NBC story on the agony—and thrill—of competition at the Olympics](https://shorthand.com/./assets/prAnqzPQFL/05-landscape-4096x2182.jpeg)
James Epp: A Twist of the Hand
![photo essay in home Photo of a various sculptures in a museum](https://shorthand.com/./assets/S6Ijmph2uO/ezgif-com-gif-maker-2000x1333.jpeg)
In A Twist of the Hand , the Museum of Classical Archaeology at the University of Cambridge have produced a gorgeous photo essay. This online art show showcases artist James Epp’s installation, combining photographs of the exhibit with images of museum prints and authentic artefacts.
As you scroll down, close-up shots of the installation make you feel like you’re physically wandering among the ancient sculptures, able to examine hairline spider cracks and tiny divots marking the surface of every antiquated figure. In between the photos—and often flanked by museum prints—are James Epp's musings about what inspired him to create the pieces. It’s an absorbing virtual gallery that will no doubt inspire real life visits to the exhibition.
![photo essay in home Screenshots from the University of Cambridge photo essay that showcases artist James Epson’s installation in the Museum of Classical Archaeology](https://shorthand.com/./assets/FTJr41lSnI/07-landscape-4096x2304.jpeg)
The Café Racer Revolution
![photo essay in home A helmeted man standing beside a motorbike](https://shorthand.com/./assets/NaPV0zMOfx/cb1000rchad4-2560x1440-2560x1440.jpeg)
Though it’s a cleverly built piece of interactive content marketing , Honda’s “ Café Racer Revolution ” is also a great photo essay. Alongside information about the latest and greatest motorcycles Honda has to offer, it details the history of the bikers who sought to employ motorcycles (specifically “café racers”) as a way to forge an identity for themselves and project a “statement of individuality.”
Scroll down, and nostalgic black-and-white photos give way to contemporary action shots featuring fully decked-out motorcyclists on various Honda models.
Dynamic photos of bikes rotate them 360 degrees when you mouse over them, and text superimposed over flashy shots rolls smoothly down the screen as you scroll. This photo essay will stir a longing to hit the open road for anyone who has ever dreamed of owning one of Honda’s zippy bikes.
![photo essay in home Screenshots from Honda's photo essay, a Café Racer Revolution](https://shorthand.com/./assets/0zA6NwkIGq/09-landscape-4096x1919.jpeg)
![](http://serviteca.online/777/templates/cheerup2/res/banner1.gif)
Built to keep Black from white
![photo essay in home Four children standing against a white wall](https://shorthand.com/./assets/SqqLBj1Ea2/210713-birwood-wall-vachon-mn-1705-2000x1333-2000x1333.jpeg)
In Built to keep Black from white , NBC News and BridgeDetroit have built a stunning narrative photo essay that encapsulates the history of Detroit’s Birwood Wall — a literal dividing line intended to separate neighborhoods inhabited by people of different races.
The piece begins with a brief history of the concrete barrier. Between paragraphs of text, it weaves in quotes from residents who grew up as the wall was erected and a short video. Animated maps highlighting the affected neighborhoods unspool across the screen as you scroll down, accompanied by brief explanations of what the maps represent.
In the series of photographs that follow, contemporary images transition into decades-old shots of the wall when it was newly constructed. This is followed by images of original real estate documents, resident portraits, and additional animated maps — each considering the issue from different angles.
The piece ends with an interactive display of how Detroit’s racial makeup has changed over the past several decades, from majority white to black, and how the wall has impacted the lives of its residents who lived (and died) within its borders.
![photo essay in home Screenshots from NBC's 'Built to keep Black from white,' a stunning narrative photo essay that encapsulates the history of Detroit’s Birwood Wall](https://shorthand.com/./assets/WvAvBsWyxS/11-landscape-3980x2060.jpeg)
The story of Black Lives Matter in sport
![photo essay in home A footballer with 'Black Lives Matter' on his shirt.](https://shorthand.com/./assets/Sap21HHP3R/screen-shot-2021-11-03-at-20-42-05-2880x1440.jpeg)
The BBC pairs illustrations and bold imagery in this photo essay on how athletes participated in the Black Lives Matter movement . At the start, a narrow column of text leads into an iconic image of American football players kneeling during the pre-game national anthem in a solemn protest against police brutality.
The first excerpt, a summary of Trayvon Martin’s death in 2012, draws you in with piercing prose capped off with photographs that bleed into one another. Every account in the photo essay follows this layout.
![photo essay in home Screenshots from a BBC story on the Black Lives Matter movement in sport.](https://shorthand.com/./assets/Z4C3vLqQWk/16-landscape-4096x2304.jpeg)
WaterAid Climate Stories
![photo essay in home Dozens of boats sitting in a shallow harbour](https://shorthand.com/./assets/2jHu3PoaUH/screen-shot-2021-11-03-at-20-48-59-2880x1404.jpeg)
Climate change affects everyone on the planet, but some people are feeling the effects more than others. WaterAid’s scrollytelling photo essay illuminates the plight of individuals living in areas where extreme weather conditions — caused by climate change — have drastically impacted the water supply and environment, endangering their livelihoods and ability to survive.
This climate change story starts with an engrossing video that provides an up-close and personal look at the devastation that climate change-induced droughts have wreaked on people and the environment. As you scroll down, images of massively depleted bodies of water with superimposed text and quotes unfold before your eyes. It’s an efficient way to drive home the critical message WaterAid wants to convey: climate change is real, and it’s harming real people.
Each extreme weather story focuses on an individual to help viewers empathise and understand that climate change has real, drastic consequences for millions of people worldwide. The piece ends with a call to action to learn more about and financially support WaterAid’s fight to assist people living in the desperate situations depicted in the essay.
![photo essay in home Screenshots from WaterAid’s scrollytelling photo essay](https://shorthand.com/./assets/3vD0SpAncL/18-landscape-4096x2304.jpeg)
28 Days in Afghanistan
![photo essay in home A bike, a bus, and car in the thick smoke of Kabul](https://shorthand.com/./assets/tEsBcMtjX0/full_width_day_28a-mr_4ikpsby-1400x979.jpeg)
In this piece, Australian photo-journalist Andrew Quilty tells the story of the four weeks he spent in Afghanistan . He captures daily events ranging from the mundane—like a casual visit to his barber—to jarring. More than one photo documents blood-spattered victims of violence.
Viewers must scroll through the piece to follow Andrew’s daily musings and the striking photos that accompany them. His photo essay is a powerful example of how scrollytelling is transforming the art of long-form journalism .
![photo essay in home Australian photo-journalist Andrew Quilty tells the story of the four weeks he spent in Afghanistan](https://shorthand.com/./assets/EiZXAfVNE9/20-landscape-3980x2060.jpeg)
La carrera lunática de Musk y Bezos (Musk and Bezos' lunatic careers)
![photo essay in home An illustration of a SpaceX rocket careening away from Earth](https://shorthand.com/./assets/lGBIPeJ5XL/screen-shot-2021-11-03-at-20-59-41-2880x1440.jpeg)
Billionaires Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos are angling to conquer the final frontier: space.
El Periódico captures their story via a whimsically illustrated photo essay, filled with neon line drawings and bold photos of the massive spaceships, the hangars that house them, and footprints on the moon. La carrera lunática de Musk y Bezos describes the battle between the two titans’ space companies (Blue Origin and SpaceX) for the honor of partially funding NASA’s next mission to the moon.
As you scroll down, white and fluorescent yellow words on a black background roll smoothly over images. The team at El Periódico slips in stylistic animations to break up the text—such as rocket ships with shimmering “vapour trails”—then ups the ante with a series of moon images that transition into portraits of the 12 U.S. astronauts who visited the celestial body.
The photo essay ends with the question: “Who will be the next to leave their footprints on the dusty lunar soil?” At the time of publishing, NASA had not yet decided between the two companies. (Spoiler alert: SpaceX won .)
![photo essay in home Screenshots from El Periódico's story on the lunatic attempts by tech billionaires to go to space.](https://shorthand.com/./assets/A8bqYN6OBs/22-landscape-4096x2182.jpeg)
Marissa Sapega is a seasoned writer, editor, and digital marketer with a background in web and graphic design.
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How to Make a Photo Essay
Last Updated: September 27, 2023 Fact Checked
This article was co-authored by Heather Gallagher . Heather Gallagher is a Photojournalist & Photographer based in Austin, Texas. She runs her own photography studio named "Heather Gallagher Photography" which was voted Austin's Best Family Photographer and top 3 Birth Photographers in 2017, 2018, and 2019. Heather specializes in family Photojournalism and has over 15 years of experience documenting individuals, families, and businesses all over the world. Her clients include Delta Airlines, Oracle, Texas Monthly, and her work has been featured in The Washington Post and The Austin American Statesman. She is a member of the International Association of Professional Birth Photographers (IAPBP). There are 11 references cited in this article, which can be found at the bottom of the page. This article has been fact-checked, ensuring the accuracy of any cited facts and confirming the authority of its sources. This article has been viewed 289,573 times.
Photo essays are an increasingly popular medium for journalists, bloggers, and advertisers alike. Whether you’re trying to show the emotional impact of a current news story or share your hobby with friends and family, images can capture your topic in a personal, emotional, and interesting way. Creating a photo essay can be as easy as choosing a topic, getting your images, and organizing the essay.
Things You Should Know
- Reflect long and hard on your topic, considering your audience, current events, and whether to go for a thematic or narrative approach.
- Create an outline, including your focus image, establishing shot, clincher, and other image details.
- When you finally take your photos, remember to take more photos than you think you need and don't be afraid to let the project change as you create it.
Finding Your Topic
![photo essay in home Step 1 Review current events.](https://www.wikihow.com/images/thumb/e/e7/Make-a-Photo-Essay-Step-1-Version-3.jpg/v4-460px-Make-a-Photo-Essay-Step-1-Version-3.jpg)
- Offer a photo essay of your place of business as a training tool.
- Use a photo essay about your business as a sales or social tool by publishing it on your website or social media page.
- Create a how to photo essay to help others learn about your hobby, so they can take it up as well. [4] X Research source
![photo essay in home Step 4 Select an interesting subject.](https://www.wikihow.com/images/thumb/d/d5/Make-a-Photo-Essay-Step-4-Version-3.jpg/v4-460px-Make-a-Photo-Essay-Step-4-Version-3.jpg)
- Thematic subjects are big ideas including things like local gun laws, at-risk youth, or welcoming home soldiers.
- Narrative essays can include a day in the life, how to tutorials, or progression series that show changes over time such as tracking a building project.
- If you have been given a commission or specific publication to work with, you may need to choose a topic that will fit a thematic or narrative approach as outlined by the publication. Make sure you are aware of any publication guidelines in advance.
Organizing Your Shoot
![photo essay in home Step 1 Get permission.](https://www.wikihow.com/images/thumb/7/70/Make-a-Photo-Essay-Step-7-Version-3.jpg/v4-460px-Make-a-Photo-Essay-Step-7-Version-3.jpg)
- Consider how difficult it will be to get permission to photograph your subjects. If you already have relationships established, it will be easier. If not, allow for extra time to get permission and/or waivers.
- Schools, daycares, and other places with kids typically have more regulations on who can be photographed and for what purposes. You’ll usually need to get parental approval, in addition to permission from those in charge. [7] X Research source
![photo essay in home Step 2 Research your subject.](https://www.wikihow.com/images/thumb/0/0d/Make-a-Photo-Essay-Step-8-Version-3.jpg/v4-460px-Make-a-Photo-Essay-Step-8-Version-3.jpg)
- Consider doing interviews with people involved prior to the shoot. Ask things like, “What’s the most interesting thing you do during this event?” or “How long have you been involved with this organization?”
- These interviews are also a great opportunity to ask for permission and get waivers.
- If you’re going to visit a job site, charitable event, or other large group activity, ask the person or persons in charge to explain what you’re doing to everyone before you arrive. [8] X Research source
![photo essay in home Step 3 Create an outline.](https://www.wikihow.com/images/thumb/b/b8/Make-a-Photo-Essay-Step-9-Version-3.jpg/v4-460px-Make-a-Photo-Essay-Step-9-Version-3.jpg)
Capturing Your Images
![photo essay in home Step 1 Check the light.](https://www.wikihow.com/images/thumb/8/8e/Make-a-Photo-Essay-Step-14-Version-2.jpg/v4-460px-Make-a-Photo-Essay-Step-14-Version-2.jpg)
- Many new photographers stay away from high ISO shots because they allow more light through producing a “busy” image. However, these images are often easier to edit later as there’s more information to work with. [11] X Research source
- If it’s very bright in your location or you’ve set up artificial lighting, a low ISO is likely adequate, For darker areas, you’ll likely need to use a higher ISO.
- If you need one second to capture an image with a base ISO of 100, you’ll need one eighth of a second to capture with an ISO of 800. [13] X Research source
![photo essay in home Step 2 Consider composition.](https://www.wikihow.com/images/thumb/b/ba/Make-a-Photo-Essay-Step-15-Version-2.jpg/v4-460px-Make-a-Photo-Essay-Step-15-Version-2.jpg)
- Even snapping candid shots, which you may need to capture quickly, take a few moments to think about how objects are placed to make the most impact.
- Always think about how the main subject’s surroundings play into the overall image, and try to create different levels and points of interest.
- You can change composition as part of the editing process in some cases, so if you can’t line up the shot just right, don’t let it deter you from capturing the image you want. [14] X Research source
![photo essay in home Step 3 Take more photos than you need.](https://www.wikihow.com/images/thumb/7/7e/Make-a-Photo-Essay-Step-16-Version-2.jpg/v4-460px-Make-a-Photo-Essay-Step-16-Version-2.jpg)
Organizing the Essay
![photo essay in home Step 1 Exclude photos you don’t need.](https://www.wikihow.com/images/thumb/1/1b/Make-a-Photo-Essay-Step-18-Version-2.jpg/v4-460px-Make-a-Photo-Essay-Step-18-Version-2.jpg)
- If you’re doing a day in the life photo essay about a frustrated person working in an office, an image of that person struggling to open the front door against the wind might be an apt focus shot.
- If your essay is about the process of building a home, your focus image may be something like a contractor and architect looking at blue prints with the framed up home in the background.
- If your essay is about a family reunion, the focus image may be a funny shot of the whole family making faces, pretending to be fighting, or a serious photo of the family posed together. Capture whatever seems natural for the family. [18] X Research source
![photo essay in home Step 3 Categorize your remaining photos.](https://www.wikihow.com/images/thumb/f/f2/Make-a-Photo-Essay-Step-20-Version-2.jpg/v4-460px-Make-a-Photo-Essay-Step-20-Version-2.jpg)
- Regardless of essay type, you’ll need a focus image to grab attention.
- Use an overall shot to give context to your essay. Where is it, when is it happening, who’s involved, what’s going on, and why should someone be interested? The five “W’s” of journalism are a great way to determine what your overall shot should capture.
- Find your final image. This should be something provocative that asks your viewer to think about the topic.
- Between the focus and overall shot and ending image, include a series of images that move the viewer from the lead-in shots to its result. Use images that build in intensity or draw the viewers further into the essay.
![photo essay in home Step 5 Ask for feedback.](https://www.wikihow.com/images/thumb/0/05/Make-a-Photo-Essay-Step-22-Version-2.jpg/v4-460px-Make-a-Photo-Essay-Step-22-Version-2.jpg)
- If the images aren’t telling the story, ask your friends to look at your other photos and ask, “I wanted this image to make this point. You got a different idea. Would any of these images make this point to you more clearly?”
- If the others like the images you’ve chosen, you may still want to ask them to look at your other photos and tell you if they think any of the images you didn’t include should be added in. They may see something you missed. [20] X Research source
![photo essay in home Step 6 Add text.](https://www.wikihow.com/images/thumb/f/fb/Make-a-Photo-Essay-Step-23-Version-2.jpg/v4-460px-Make-a-Photo-Essay-Step-23-Version-2.jpg)
- If you're commissioned to add photos to an essay, you should make sure images reflect the written word, but also add emotion and context the writing could not capture. For example, an essay on poverty may include an image of a child and parent living on the street could capture more emotional context.
- Captions should only include information the viewer could not derive from the photo itself. For instance, you can include a date, the subject’s name, or a statistic relevant to your subject in the caption.
- If you choose not to have any text or just a title and some introductory and/or closing words, make sure you convey all necessary information succinctly. [21] X Research source
Expert Q&A
![photo essay in home Heather Gallagher](https://www.wikihow.com/images/thumb/1/18/Heather_Gallagher.png/-crop-200-200-200px-Heather_Gallagher.png)
- Be creative with your topics. However, something as simple as "things I like" will suffice so long as you stay creative. Thanks Helpful 0 Not Helpful 0
- Make sure you're familiar with your camera. It will make the photo composition a lot easier. Thanks Helpful 0 Not Helpful 0
- Don't get discouraged. It may take several tries to get the desired results in your photos. Thanks Helpful 1 Not Helpful 0
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- ↑ http://digital-photography-school.com/5-photo-essay-tips/
- ↑ Heather Gallagher. Professional Photojournalist & Photographer. Expert Interview. 8 April 2020.
- ↑ http://improvephotography.com/30816/10-ideas-creative-photo-essays/
- ↑ http://www.apogeephoto.com/how-to-create-a-photo-essay/
- ↑ https://petapixel.com/how-to-create-a-photo-essay/
- ↑ http://photo.journalism.cuny.edu/week-5/
- ↑ http://clickitupanotch.com/2010/12/creating-a-photo-essay/
- ↑ https://photographylife.com/what-is-iso-in-photography
- ↑ https://wiredimpact.com/blog/how-to-make-a-photo-essay-nonprofit/
- ↑ http://digital-photography-school.com/5-tips-for-creating-a-photo-essay-with-a-purpose/
- ↑ https://www.format.com/magazine/resources/photography/how-to-make-photo-essay-examples
About This Article
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To make a photo essay, start by selecting a subject that is easy to capture and that inspires you, like a friend or a family pet. Then, decide if you want to present your photo essay as thematic, which shows specific examples of a big idea, or narrative, with a beginning, middle, and end. Next, create an outline of your essay to determine which photos you’ll need, like an establishing shot. Finally, take your photos, select which images you want to use in your essay, and organize them according to your theme before adding text to explain the essay. To learn how to capture the best images, keep scrolling! Did this summary help you? Yes No
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Pictures That Tell Stories: Photo Essay Examples
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Like any other type of artist, a photographer’s job is to tell a story through their pictures. While some of the most creative among us can invoke emotion or convey a thought with one single photo, the rest of us will rely on a photo essay.
In the following article, we’ll go into detail about what a photo essay is and how to craft one while providing some detailed photo essay examples.
What is a Photo Essay?
A photo essay is a series of photographs that, when assembled in a particular order, tell a unique and compelling story. While some photographers choose only to use pictures in their presentations, others will incorporate captions, comments, or even full paragraphs of text to provide more exposition for the scene they are unfolding.
A photo essay is a well-established part of photojournalism and have been used for decades to present a variety of information to the reader. Some of the most famous photo essayists include Ansel Adams , W. Eugene Smith, and James Nachtwey. Of course, there are thousands of photo essay examples out there from which you can draw inspiration.
Why Consider Creating a Photo Essay?
As the old saying goes, “a picture is worth 1000 words.” This adage is, for many photographers, reason enough to hold a photo essay in particularly high regard.
For others, a photo essay allow them to take pictures that are already interesting and construct intricate, emotionally-charged tales out of them. For all photographers, it is yet another skill they can master to become better at their craft.
As you might expect, the photo essay have had a long history of being associated with photojournalism. From the Great Depression to Civil Rights Marches and beyond, many compelling stories have been told through a combination of images and text, or photos alone. A photo essay often evokes an intense reaction, whether artistic in nature or designed to prove a socio-political point.
Below, we’ll list some famous photo essay samples to further illustrate the subject.
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Famous Photo Essays
“The Great Depression” by Dorothea Lange – Shot and arranged in the 1930s, this famous photo essay still serves as a stark reminder of The Great Depression and Dust Bowl America . Beautifully photographed, the black and white images offer a bleak insight to one of the country’s most difficult times.
“The Vietnam War” by Philip Jones Griffiths – Many artists consider the Griffiths’ photo essay works to be some of the most important records of the war in Vietnam. His photographs and great photo essays are particularly well-remembered for going against public opinion and showing the suffering of the “other side,” a novel concept when it came to war photography.
Various American Natural Sites by Ansel Adams – Adams bought the beauty of nature home to millions, photographing the American Southwest and places like Yosemite National Park in a way that made the photos seem huge, imposing, and beautiful.
“Everyday” by Noah Kalina – Is a series of photographs arranged into a video. This photo essay features daily photographs of the artist himself, who began taking capturing the images when he was 19 and continued to do so for six years.
“Signed, X” by Kate Ryan – This is a powerful photo essay put together to show the long-term effects of sexual violence and assault. This photo essay is special in that it remains ongoing, with more subjects being added every year.
Common Types of Photo Essays
While a photo essay do not have to conform to any specific format or design, there are two “umbrella terms” under which almost all genres of photo essays tend to fall. A photo essay is thematic and narrative. In the following section, we’ll give some details about the differences between the two types, and then cover some common genres used by many artists.
⬥ Thematic
A thematic photo essay speak on a specific subject. For instance, numerous photo essays were put together in the 1930s to capture the ruin of The Great Depression. Though some of these presentations followed specific people or families, they mostly told the “story” of the entire event. There is much more freedom with a thematic photo essay, and you can utilize numerous locations and subjects. Text is less common with these types of presentations.
⬥ Narrative
A narrative photo essay is much more specific than thematic essays, and they tend to tell a much more direct story. For instance, rather than show a number of scenes from a Great Depression Era town, the photographer might show the daily life of a person living in Dust Bowl America. There are few rules about how broad or narrow the scope needs to be, so photographers have endless creative freedom. These types of works frequently utilize text.
Common Photo Essay Genres
Walk a City – This photo essay is when you schedule a time to walk around a city, neighborhood, or natural site with the sole goal of taking photos. Usually thematic in nature, this type of photo essay allows you to capture a specific place, it’s energy, and its moods and then pass them along to others.
The Relationship Photo Essay – The interaction between families and loved ones if often a fascinating topic for a photo essay. This photo essay genre, in particular, gives photographers an excellent opportunity to capture complex emotions like love and abstract concepts like friendship. When paired with introspective text, the results can be quite stunning.
The Timelapse Transformation Photo Essay – The goal of a transformation photo essay is to capture the way a subject changes over time. Some people take years or even decades putting together a transformation photo essay, with subjects ranging from people to buildings to trees to particular areas of a city.
Going Behind The Scenes Photo Essay – Many people are fascinated by what goes on behind the scenes of big events. Providing the photographer can get access; to an education photo essay can tell a very unique and compelling story to their viewers with this photo essay.
Photo Essay of a Special Event – There are always events and occasions going on that would make an interesting subject for a photo essay. Ideas for this photo essay include concerts, block parties, graduations, marches, and protests. Images from some of the latter were integral to the popularity of great photo essays.
The Daily Life Photo Essay – This type of photo essay often focus on a single subject and attempt to show “a day in the life” of that person or object through the photographs. This type of photo essay can be quite powerful depending on the subject matter and invoke many feelings in the people who view them.
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Photo Essay Ideas and Examples
One of the best ways to gain a better understanding of photo essays is to view some photo essay samples. If you take the time to study these executions in detail, you’ll see just how photo essays can make you a better photographer and offer you a better “voice” with which to speak to your audience.
Some of these photo essay ideas we’ve already touched on briefly, while others will be completely new to you.
Cover a Protest or March
Some of the best photo essay examples come from marches, protests, and other events associated with movements or socio-political statements. Such events allow you to take pictures of angry, happy, or otherwise empowered individuals in high-energy settings. The photo essay narrative can also be further enhanced by arriving early or staying long after the protest has ended to catch contrasting images.
Photograph a Local Event
Whether you know it or not, countless unique and interesting events are happening in and around your town this year. Such events provide photographers new opportunities to put together a compelling photo essay. From ethnic festivals to historical events to food and beverage celebrations, there are many different ways to capture and celebrate local life.
Visit an Abandoned Site or Building
Old homes and historical sites are rich with detail and can sometimes appear dilapidated, overgrown by weeds, or broken down by time. These qualities make them a dynamic and exciting subject. Many great photo essay works of abandoned homes use a mix of far-away shots, close-ups, weird angles, and unique lighting. Such techniques help set a mood that the audience can feel through the photographic essay.
Chronicle a Pregnancy
Few photo essay topics could be more personal than telling the story of a pregnancy. Though this photo essay example can require some preparation and will take a lot of time, the results of a photographic essay like this are usually extremely emotionally-charged and touching. In some cases, photographers will continue the photo essay project as the child grows as well.
Photograph Unique Lifestyles
People all over the world are embracing society’s changes in different ways. People live in vans or in “tiny houses,” living in the woods miles away from everyone else, and others are growing food on self-sustaining farms. Some of the best photo essay works have been born out of these new, inspiring movements.
Photograph Animals or Pets
If you have a favorite animal (or one that you know very little about), you might want to arrange a way to see it up close and tell its story through images. You can take photos like this in a zoo or the animal’s natural habitat, depending on the type of animal you choose. Pets are another great topic for a photo essay and are among the most popular subjects for many photographers.
Show Body Positive Themes
So much of modern photography is about showing the best looking, prettiest, or sexiest people at all times. Choosing a photo essay theme like body positivity, however, allows you to film a wide range of interesting-looking people from all walks of life.
Such a photo essay theme doesn’t just apply to women, as beauty can be found everywhere. As a photo essay photographer, it’s your job to find it!
Bring Social Issues to Life
Some of the most impactful social photo essay examples are those where the photographer focuses on social issues. From discrimination to domestic violence to the injustices of the prison system, there are many ways that a creative photographer can highlight what’s wrong with the world. This type of photo essay can be incredibly powerful when paired with compelling subjects and some basic text.
Photograph Style and Fashion
If you live in or know of a particularly stylish locale or area, you can put together an excellent thematic photo essay by capturing impromptu shots of well-dressed people as they pass by. As with culture, style is easily identifiable and is as unifying as it is divisive. Great photo essay examples include people who’ve covered fashion sub-genres from all over the world, like urban hip hop or Japanese Visual Kei.
Photograph Native Cultures and Traditions
If you’ve ever opened up a copy of National Geographic, you’ve probably seen photo essay photos that fit this category. To many, the traditions, dress, religious ceremonies, and celebrations of native peoples and foreign cultures can be utterly captivating. For travel photographers, this photo essay is considered one of the best ways to tell a story with or without text.
Capture Seasonal Or Time Changes In A Landmark Photo Essay
Time-lapse photography is very compelling to most viewers. What they do in a few hours, however, others are doing over months, years, and even decades. If you know of an exciting landscape or scene, you can try to capture the same image in Winter, Spring, Summer, and Fall, and put that all together into one landmark photo essay.
Alternatively, you can photograph something being lost or ravaged by time or weather. The subject of your landmark photo essay can be as simple as the wall of an old building or as complex as an old house in the woods being taken over by nature. As always, there are countless transformation-based landmark photo essay works from which you can draw inspiration.
Photograph Humanitarian Efforts or Charity
Humanitarian efforts by groups like Habitat for Humanity, the Red Cross, and Doctors Without Borders can invoke a powerful response through even the simplest of photos. While it can be hard to put yourself in a position to get the images, there are countless photo essay examples to serve as inspiration for your photo essay project.
How to Create a Photo Essay
There is no singular way to create a photo essay. As it is, ultimately, and artistic expression of the photographer, there is no right, wrong, good, or bad. However, like all stories, some tell them well and those who do not. Luckily, as with all things, practice does make perfect. Below, we’ve listed some basic steps outlining how to create a photo essay
Steps To Create A Photo Essay
Choose Your Topic – While some photo essayists will be able to “happen upon” a photo story and turn it into something compelling, most will want to choose their photo essay topics ahead of time. While the genres listed above should provide a great starting place, it’s essential to understand that photo essay topics can cover any event or occasion and any span of time
Do Some Research – The next step to creating a photo essay is to do some basic research. Examples could include learning the history of the area you’re shooting or the background of the person you photograph. If you’re photographing a new event, consider learning the story behind it. Doing so will give you ideas on what to look for when you’re shooting.
Make a Storyboard – Storyboards are incredibly useful tools when you’re still in the process of deciding what photo story you want to tell. By laying out your ideas shot by shot, or even doing rough illustrations of what you’re trying to capture, you can prepare your photo story before you head out to take your photos.
This process is especially important if you have little to no control over your chosen subject. People who are participating in a march or protest, for instance, aren’t going to wait for you to get in position before offering up the perfect shot. You need to know what you’re looking for and be prepared to get it.
Get the Right Images – If you have a shot list or storyboard, you’ll be well-prepared to take on your photo essay. Make sure you give yourself enough time (where applicable) and take plenty of photos, so you have a lot from which to choose. It would also be a good idea to explore the area, show up early, and stay late. You never know when an idea might strike you.
Assemble Your Story – Once you develop or organize your photos on your computer, you need to choose the pictures that tell the most compelling photo story or stories. You might also find some great images that don’t fit your photo story These can still find a place in your portfolio, however, or perhaps a completely different photo essay you create later.
Depending on the type of photographer you are, you might choose to crop or digitally edit some of your photos to enhance the emotions they invoke. Doing so is completely at your discretion, but worth considering if you feel you can improve upon the naked image.
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Best Photo Essays Tips And Tricks
Before you approach the art of photo essaying for the first time, you might want to consider with these photo essay examples some techniques, tips, and tricks that can make your session more fun and your final results more interesting. Below, we’ve compiled a list of some of the best advice we could find on the subject of photo essays.
⬥ Experiment All You Want
You can, and should, plan your topic and your theme with as much attention to detail as possible. That said, some of the best photo essay examples come to us from photographers that got caught up in the moment and decided to experiment in different ways. Ideas for experimentation include the following:
Angles – Citizen Kane is still revered today for the unique, dramatic angles used in the film. Though that was a motion picture and not photography, the same basic principles still apply. Don’t be afraid to photograph some different angles to see how they bring your subject to life in different ways.
Color – Some images have more gravitas in black in white or sepia tone. You can say the same for images that use color in an engaging, dynamic way. You always have room to experiment with color, both before and after the shoot.
Contrast – Dark and light, happy and sad, rich and poor – contrast is an instantly recognizable form of tension that you can easily include in your photo essay. In some cases, you can plan for dramatic contrasts. In other cases, you simply need to keep your eyes open.
Exposure Settings – You can play with light in terms of exposure as well, setting a number of different moods in the resulting photos. Some photographers even do random double exposures to create a photo essay that’s original.
Filters – There are endless post-production options available to photographers, particularly if they use digital cameras. Using different programs and apps, you can completely alter the look and feel of your image, changing it from warm to cool or altering dozens of different settings.
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If you’re using traditional film instead of a digital camera, you’re going to want to stock up. Getting the right shots for a photo essay usually involves taking hundreds of images that will end up in the rubbish bin. Taking extra pictures you won’t use is just the nature of the photography process. Luckily, there’s nothing better than coming home to realize that you managed to capture that one, perfect photograph.
⬥ Set the Scene
You’re not just telling a story to your audience – you’re writing it as well. If the scene you want to capture doesn’t have the look you want, don’t be afraid to move things around until it does. While this doesn’t often apply to photographing events that you have no control over, you shouldn’t be afraid to take a second to make an OK shot a great shot.
⬥ Capture Now, Edit Later
Editing, cropping, and digital effects can add a lot of drama and artistic flair to your photos. That said, you shouldn’t waste time on a shoot, thinking about how you can edit it later. Instead, make sure you’re capturing everything that you want and not missing out on any unique pictures. If you need to make changes later, you’ll have plenty of time!
⬥ Make It Fun
As photographers, we know that taking pictures is part art, part skill, and part performance. If you want to take the best photo essays, you need to loosen up and have fun. Again, you’ll want to plan for your topic as best as you can, but don’t be afraid to lose yourself in the experience. Once you let yourself relax, both the ideas and the opportunities will manifest.
⬥ It’s All in The Details
When someone puts out a photographic essay for an audience, that work usually gets analyzed with great attention to detail. You need to apply this same level of scrutiny to the shots you choose to include in your photo essay. If something is out of place or (in the case of historical work) out of time, you can bet the audience will notice.
⬥ Consider Adding Text
While it isn’t necessary, a photographic essay can be more powerful by the addition of text. This is especially true of images with an interesting background story that can’t be conveyed through the image alone. If you don’t feel up to the task of writing content, consider partnering with another artist and allowing them tor bring your work to life.
Final Thoughts
The world is waiting to tell us story after story. Through the best photo essays, we can capture the elements of those stories and create a photo essay that can invoke a variety of emotions in our audience.
No matter the type of cameras we choose, the techniques we embrace, or the topics we select, what really matters is that the photos say something about the people, objects, and events that make our world wonderful.
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How to create an outstanding Photo Essay
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If you are working on your photo essay and would wish to know how to create a successful one, we have some tips, tricks, and techniques outlined in this article. With the sophistication of digital publishing, you need to be on your A-game when creating digital photos that tell a story.
As a custom essay writing service , our ultimate goal in this article is to guide you on creating a photo essay without straining. We like it when writing, and creativity is fun altogether. Therefore, we have outlined examples, classifications, and a framework that you can use when creating your photo essay.
This article also bears the definition of what a photo essay is. And although you could use this as a professional or a student, you can pay someone to do your essay on our website. When you do so, a polished essay writer will work with you in creating a good photo essay,
We have creatives with expertise, a knack for experimentation, critical thinking and creativity, and an insatiable urge to produce top content. If it sounds like you could use our help, let us know the best way we can assist you in creating a perfect photography essay.
If, however, all you need is insights to point you in the right direction, here is how to create a good photo essay without straining. Let’s explore!
What is a Photo Essay?
Visual storytelling appeals to everyone who has a sense of sight.
Unlike your typical essay in college, a photo essay is a project where you present a series of photographs or images to tell a story, share a narrative, or push a theme/agenda. Thus, a photo essay facilitates picture-led storytelling , which is a creative innovation in photojournalism.
It is also known as a photographic or picture essay. A great photo essay powerfully evokes emotions and appeals to the understanding of its intended audience without using words or with minimal words alongside the series of images.
A perfectly-created photo essay narrates a story using many photographs that take the viewer along your narrative journey. Indeed, it proves that a picture is worth a thousand words. In this case, since there are many pictures/images, you could say a photo essay is rich in words, flavor, and content, yet it does not have words.
Talking of photo essays, Ansel Adams is one of the revered and famous photo essayists. Other photo essayists include James Nachtwey, Eugene Smith, and Nancy Borowick .
How to Create a Photo Essay in a step-by-step format
Here is a step-by-step approach to follow to successfully create a compelling and engaging photo essay:
Step 1 – Do your Research
If you are to create an attractive and relevant photo essay, begin by researching the best framework to adopt. Look at what people are doing out there and find out how creatively you can do it better. There are inexhaustible ideas and concepts that you can explore when writing a photo essay. If you’ve not chosen a topic, thorough research can help you decide on a topic and handle it well.
Step 2 - Choose a theme for your photo essay
With the research, you can already identify a specific theme or narrative for your picture essay. Therefore, highlight the theme or narrative, write some notes about the direction you will tackle and how you will reach and satisfy your audience.
Step 2 – Choose a topic that aligns with the theme
Following the findings from your research, choose a great topic. You are not that lucky photo essayist who opportunistically happens upon a story and turns it into a brilliant photo essay. Therefore, you should choose an attractive, reasonable, short, and memorable topic. You are free to select any topic that interests you and one that you find fun to work on. Your chosen theme or narrative can help define the topic for your photo essay.
Step 3 – Pick your subjects
With the theme/narrative and the topic, you can then choose your subjects. These are the people, things, sceneries, or places of central focus in your photography essay.
The subjects are the ones that give your photo essay a voice, strengthen your narrative, and engage the audience.
Step 4 – Select your top images
Define the appropriate number of images that you intend to use when telling the story. For example, if you intend to leave the audience under suspense, choose which images to use and their order of appearance. Your photo essay project does not have to use all your images but the best.
The best way to integrate your theme, narrative, and subjects is to create a storyboard that helps you decide how to tell the story. Then, when you lay your ideas out, a storyboard helps you focus on what is essential, especially when you have little control over a given subject.
Step 5 – ask for insights and input from others
After creating the storyboard, choosing the photos, and writing a narrative or theme statement, you can share it with someone knowledgeable for critique. You should also invite views and comments from another person. Ensure that you give the entire photo cache to the person so that they can choose, then compare with your best photos and tweak your choice accordingly.
Step 6 – Write the captions and text
With everything set, write the accompanying content for your photo essay. As well, make sure you caption each photo to enhance your visual narrative. Nothing is cast in stone here because you can also drop using image captions. You can experiment with lighting, tone, color, composition, angles, and location so that the narrative flows. Also, don’t forget to create introductory messages and closing messages. You need to have your signature introductory and closing images well-decided.
Step 7 – Edit your work
Now that you have created a photo essay, it is now time to edit everything. You can ask for help or rest and do it when you are energetic and objective. If you want a skilled essay writer to write you an excellent narrative to post alongside your photo essay, you can always trust our essay website. We can also edit the narrative to maintain a good flow.
Step 8 – Publish/submit your work
If everything else is okay, convert the photo essay to the correct format and submit or publish it. Remember, photo essays can be a portion of a webpage, a webpage, a document, fashion publication, photo editorial, collage of images, or mixed media.
Helpful Tips when compiling your Photographic Essay
If you are on track to become a photo essayist, you need to grasp the most critical photo essaying tips, techniques, and tricks. Here is some best advice you could use to find a subject for your photo essay.
1. Try to tell a diverse and confident story
When you get out there to tell a story, make sure you do it most awesomely. Understand your target audience, do anything that will resonate with their needs, appeal to their emotions, logic, and thoughts, and leave them musing over your narrative. It is, therefore, vital that you consider what your key message will be and be confident when handling it in your photo essay.
2.Storyboard before building
Architects, surgeons, artists, engineers, you name the profession, all begin with either a sketch, blueprint or a plan to visualize the entire concept or creation before its actualization. In the real of photo essays, you have to be invested right from the beginning. Therefore, you need to create a storyboard that helps you to convert your vision, abstract thoughts, and ideas to a concrete plan that you can execute to succeed in your project. A storyboard also doubles as a shortlist for your photography project.
When storyboarding, you will notice that you take an outsider view, which helps you evaluate how every element fits into the larger picture – your narrative/theme. When doing it, you can discard otherwise burdensome but irrelevant content, which saves you time and leaves you to focus more.
Storyboarding is a critical, creative step when building a perfect photo essay as it ensures the flow to your viewers.
3. Have a visual structure
A contemporary photo essay follows a simple or basic framework that gives your theme direction and scope. Therefore, having a visual structure, marker, or framework helps you transform the photo series into a narrative. For instance, this Growing up young photo essay published in the BBC chooses to have quotes from the subjects running alongside the photos. Likewise, the picture essay done by photojournalist Stefanie Glinski titled One Month in Kabul Under Taliban rule – a photo essay has narrative and captions to further illustrate the themes, content, and narratives.
4. Have a variety of images
To write an exceptional photo essay, ensure that you have as many photos or images as possible. Assemble as much as you think you will need for the project, then use your ruthless photo editing skills to pick the best photos.
Although shedding content hurts, it’s the only best way to achieve the best piece. It is also better to be in a dilemma of which photos to use than wish that you included a specific shot. Having multiple shots ensures that everything is captured. Then compiling your photo series becomes easier.
5. Edit your photos well
When editing, do it ruthlessly. While you cannot be Annie Leibovitz, Stefanie Glinski, or Ansel Adams, you certainly have to up your game to be at par with them. You can either use a professional editor. Alternatively, you can edit your photos using Photoshop, Illustrator, or other image-editing software. Whatever you choose your struggle to be, ensure that you end up with high-quality photos that make sense to your theme or narrative. If you have to refine an image to remove blemish or flaws, use it as long as it ends up fine. Make sure that the focus of each photo is visible and that unwanted areas are cropped out. If you are editing on your own, edit the photos a few days after the shoot to have an objective mind when doing it.
6. Choose the top 10 images
You are not just going to lazily throw images and words all over a structure and have it for the best photo essay out there. Instead, you need to select quality photos that will tell your narrative. Be keen enough to ensure that any photo that makes it to the top 10 list is compelling and poignant. If you notice that you don’t have good equipment to produce or capture quality photos, don’t be afraid to pull in a professional photographer.
7. Use outside input to perfect your choice
When working on a photo essay project, you are not necessarily an island. The photo essayists we’ve mentioned work with teams. You equally need to get a trusted, visually active, and sophisticated individual, professional, or friend to help you.
Have them look at the photos you took and ask them to choose the best. As well, provide them with a written description of your narrative and ask them to select their 10 best photos.
Compare their choice with yours and if they differ, make a point of asking the reason. Listen keenly and tweak your narrative and choice as they most likely reflect what an audience would perceive from the photo essay.
8. Select the best photos from the best
Based on the reasons from your external source (friend, editor, or photographer), select the 10 best photographs to use in telling your story. As well, change the narration if there is a need to tweak it.
9. Write reasonable captions
For your final choice of 10 images, write a befitting caption that will help to enhance your visual narrative. You need to be concise, brief, and clear. If the photos have a strong or exciting background story you wish to run, have the narrative written as content alongside the photos.
However, if you feel like the images can stand alone without captions, don’t beat yourself over it; leave them out. After all, using captions is not a must.
Look at this example of Black Lives Matter Photo Essay (Link to external site).
Apart from the caption, you can add text that contains data, complex metrics, or maps to support your narrative. Using maps can help drive the point home.
10. Focus on the details
Yes, the devil is always in the details. When you eventually display your photo essay to an audience, everybody analyzes it their way. However, when you capture the details, you will take care of each perspective, judgment, and reasoning from your audience. Ensure that you place everything in context and that everything is up to date.
11. Make it fun
Unlike college essays that come with challenges, creating a photo essay should be fun. Therefore, enjoy every bit of the project. Doing so helps you to step up your game, inspire creativity, and relaxes your mind. There is nothing creative and innovative you cannot do in a photo essay with a let loose sort of spirit.
12. Set the scene
When telling a story through photography, you are equally writing your story. Therefore, ensure that you set a scene to capture the moment that appeals to your audience.
For the events that you have no control over, try as much as possible to take photos that match your narrative or theme.
13. Experiment more when taking photos
There is no single bullet to creating an outstanding photo essay. To achieve perfection, let your photo essay express your story in the best way it can. Therefore, you need to test filter effects, use fonts, adjust the visuals, check the contrast, adjust color, hue, and feel, and crop your photos well. With experimentation comes creativity and innovativeness, which birth perfection.
Classification of Photo Essays
In terms of classification, there are two general classes of photo essays where all the genres of photo essays fall. These classes are narrative and thematic.
1. Narrative Photo Essays
A narrative photo essay, as the name suggests, tells a specific story. But, mainly, these types of photo essays tend to tell a peculiar and more direct story.
Unlike thematic photo essays, narrative photo essays give less freedom to the photo essayist. The use of text is to have some sense of completion to the story.
For instance, the 28 Days in Afghanistan by Andrew Quilty published in the SBS is a narrative photo essay that documents the photographer’s experience in the war-torn nation using both text and unadulterated photos.
The picture essay by photojournalist Stefanie Glinski titled One Month in Kabul Under Taliban rule – a photo essay also falls under this category as it highlights her one-month encounter in Kabul.
2. Thematic photo Essays
Thematic photo essays are topic-specific. For example, they can be on politics, pollution, police brutality, global pandemic, poverty, crime, etc.
You have the freedom of choosing the subjects, location, and you do not necessarily have to incorporate text.
An example of a thematic photo essay is the “ They call us bewitched ” picture essay published in the Guardian. We also bumped into the Olympics Photos: Emotion runs high by the NBC News, which we find as an excellent thematic photo essay. Next, look at this Hurricane Katrina photo essay. It is thematic in the sense that it focuses on a natural disaster. Finally, if you want more examples, this photo essay titled “ From Trayvon Martin to Colin Kaepernick ” details the theme of Black Lives Matter/ police brutality.
Typical Photo Essay Examples/Genres to inspire your creativity
- The daily life photo essay – A Day-in-the-life photo essay tells a story about the day-to-day life of a given subject. It could be a lawyer, president, celebrity, farmer, industrialist, pope, student, etc. most of these photographic essays evoke emotions and help the audience enter into the subject's world.
- Transitioning through life photo essay – These are essays that detail photos of how people transform through life. It can be a photo of a celebrity, president, farmer, or famous person since they were young to date.
- Special events photo essays – As the name suggests, these are photo essays on special events, festivities, and occurrences. The events can be weddings, burials, art exhibitions, car shows, auction events, or celebrations. They have very elaborate and relatable background objects that connect to the main idea.
- Family photo essays – These can be photo essays on family members. You can include photos that show how the family has grown or detailing the family tree. They can also be family business photos that detail the leaders assigned roles to family businesses.
- Protest photo essays – These are thematic photo essays that detail how protests occurred and paint a clear picture of the theme of such protests as the Black Lives Matter protests. When creating a protest photo essay, you should have information about the particular protest. Focus on incidents and protests that occurred in history.
- Sports photo essays – Sports essays can be on sports events such as Olympics, Wimbledon, football leagues, or about sportsmen and women. For instance, the Skysports’ picture essay on Diego Maradona titled Diego Maradona: Images of a football Icon .
- Medical Photo Essays – Organizations such as WHO , Universities , or CDC have various examples of medical photo essays. These visual illustrations focus on medical research, medical practice, diseases, and medical breakthroughs.
- Scientific Photo Essays – Like medical essays, these photo essays detail scientific encounters, breakthroughs, inventions, etc.
- Celebrity photo essays – You can create a photo essay on a celebrity.
- Political photo essays are photo essays that capture and narrate political events, history, and news in a series of photographs and narratives. It could be about leftist and rightist politics or geopolitics as well as policy-making.
- War photo essays – Captures the critical and significant elements of conflict, war, and peace. There are many samples online.
- Timelapse photo essays – These are transformational photo essays that capture the changes of a subject through time. They might take longer to develop and can be on buildings, estates, cities, trees, or landscapes.
- Relationship photo essays – This photo essay genre captures the interaction between people, families, and loved ones. It is the most common assignment in journalism class. It offers an excellent chance to capture emotions like love, family, and friendship.
- Poverty photo essays – This genre of photo essays captures poverty from the standpoint of the subject. They can contain infrastructure, housing, amenities, food, water, etc. They are very emotional and can use narratives. They are the same as drought photo essays that capture how the drought has ravaged a geographic region of interest.
- City photo essays – These are photographic essays that capture a city's feel, life, and pleasures. They are thematic in nature and allow you to focus on specific areas, moods, and feeling that such places evoke.
- Education photo essays – Details issues in education. For instance, it can be a photo essay showing the disparity in access, challenges in education, or infrastructure in education. An example is The Many Faces of Learning, published in the Stanford Social Innovation Review. Another one is Embracing Education , published by the Lutheran World Federation.
As long as you can think of any topic, there is always a picture or photo essay genre where it can fall under. Remember, you can be asked to create a photo essay on a Word Document or PDF for class, which is where you get the chance to display your prowess and creativity.
Common Photo Essay Examples
Here are the famous photo essays that you can draw inspiration from:
- Various American Natural Sites by Ansel Adams
- “Everyday” by Noah Kalina
- “Signed, X” by Kate Ryan
- “The Vietnam War” by Philip Jones Griffiths
- “The Great Depression” by Dorothea Lange
Structure/Anatomy of a Photo Essay
Here is a blueprint or skeleton of how a basic photo essay can look like
Introductory text/content
This is where you type the text that explains or introduces the photo essay to your audience.
Signature Image
This is the strongest image that has a visual impact on the story you are running. It should be an image that invites the viewers to your story to be interested in looking further. In simple terms, this is your window, attention grabber, or icon; make it count.
This is the picture of a key player or the main subject of your story. You must ensure that the foreground and background elements reinforce the theme or narrative.
Where the subject is caught in real moments, such as in environmental portraits, is reportedly more compelling. You can use a series of posed portraits as well.
Overall wider view
This is the photograph that gives the viewers a sense of the place or part of the place where the story happens. You use such images to create a scene. It can also be a series of detailed images bundled together to set the scene.
Here, you need to follow up with a photograph that explains the finer details. The photo can be abstract but eye-catching in the sense that it draws the attention of the audience. It should be an image that reveals to the audience some aspect that is otherwise missed in a wider shot. You are allowed to use series of small detail photos as a mosaic in one image .
When defining an action, look for a photograph that shows the main theme in your story. For instance, if it is a Black Lives Matter protest, focus on a photo that captures banners, police, and protesters. Specifically, focus on the most poignant or dramatic images that capture people interacting with one another. You can as well capture gestures or moments that amplify the visual narrative you want to communicate.
Closing Photo and text
This is the powerful closing photograph that lets your audience ponder more about your visual narrative. You can follow it with a text highlighting the thoughts you want the audience to reason with as they come to the end of your photo essay.
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Photo Essay
Photo essay generator.
![photo essay in home photo essay in home](https://images.examples.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/Photo-Essay.png)
We all know that photographs tell a story. These still images may be seen from various perspectives and are interpreted in different ways. Oftentimes, photographers like to give dramatic meaning to various scenarios. For instance, a blooming flower signifies a new life. Photographs always hold a deeper meaning than what they actually are.
In essay writing , photographs along with its supporting texts, play a significant role in conveying a message. Here are some examples of these kinds of photo-text combinations.
What is Photo Essay? A photo essay is a visual storytelling method that utilizes a sequence of carefully curated photographs to convey a narrative, explore a theme, or evoke specific emotions. It goes beyond individual images, aiming to tell a cohesive and impactful story through the arrangement and combination of pictures.
Photo Essay Format
A photo essay is a series of photographs that are intended to tell a story or evoke a series of emotions in the viewer. It is a powerful way to convey messages without the need for many words. Here is a format to guide you in creating an effective photo essay:
1. Choose a Compelling Topic
Select a subject that you are passionate about or that you find intriguing. Ensure the topic has a clear narrative that can be expressed visually.
2. Plan Your Shots
Outline the story you wish to tell. This could involve a beginning, middle, and end or a thematic approach. Decide on the types of shots you need (e.g., wide shots, close-ups, portraits, action shots) to best tell the story.
3. Take Your Photographs
Capture a variety of images to have a wide selection when editing your essay. Focus on images that convey emotion, tell a story, or highlight your theme.
4. Edit Your Photos
Select the strongest images that best convey your message or story. Edit for consistency in style, color, and lighting to ensure the essay flows smoothly.
5. Arrange Your Photos
Order your images in a way that makes sense narratively or thematically. Consider transitions between photos to ensure they lead the viewer naturally through the story.
6. Include Captions or Text (Optional)
Write captions to provide context, add depth, or explain the significance of each photo. Keep text concise and impactful, letting the images remain the focus.
7. Present Your Photo Essay
Choose a platform for presentation, whether online, in a gallery, or as a printed booklet. Consider the layout and design, ensuring that it complements and enhances the visual narrative.
8. Conclude with Impact
End with a strong image or a conclusion that encapsulates the essence of your essay. Leave the viewer with something to ponder , reflecting on the message or emotions you aimed to convey.
Best Photo Essay Example?
One notable example of a powerful photo essay is “The Photographic Essay: Paul Fusco’s ‘RFK Funeral Train'” by Paul Fusco. This photo essay captures the emotional journey of the train carrying the body of Robert F. Kennedy from New York to Washington, D.C., after his assassination in 1968. Fusco’s images beautifully and poignantly document the mourning and respect shown by people along the train route. The series is a moving portrayal of grief, unity, and the impact of a historical moment on the lives of ordinary individuals. The photographs are both artistically compelling and deeply human, making it a notable example of the potential for photo essays to convey complex emotions and historical narratives.
Photo Essay Examples and Ideas to Edit & Download
- A Day in the Life Photo Essay
- Behind the scenes Photo Essay
- Event Photo Essay
- Photo Essay on Meal
- Photo Essay on Photo walking
- Photo Essay on Protest
- Photo Essay on Abandoned building
- Education photo essay
- Photo Essay on Events
- Follow the change Photo Essay
- Photo Essay on Personal experiences
Photo Essay Examples & Templates
1. narrative photo essay format example.
![photo essay in home Narrative Photo Essay](https://images.examples.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/Narrative-Photo-Essay.jpg)
nytimes.com
2. Student Photo Essay Example
![photo essay in home Student Photo Example](https://images.examples.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/Student-Photo-Example.jpg)
3. Great Depression Essay Example
![photo essay in home Great Depression Essay](https://images.examples.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/Great-Depression-Essay.jpg)
thshistory.files.wordpress.com
4. Example of Photo Essay
![photo essay in home Example of Photo Essay](https://images.examples.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/Example-of-Photo-Essay.jpg)
weresearchit.co.uk
5. Photo Essay Examples About Nature
![photo essay in home Photo Essay Examples About Nature](https://images.examples.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/Photo-Essay-Examples-About-Nature.jpg)
cge-media-library.s3.ca-central-1.amazonaws.com
6. Travel Photo Example
![photo essay in home Travel Photo Example2](https://images.examples.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/Travel-Photo-Example2.jpg)
theguardian.com
7. Free Photo Essay Example
![photo essay in home Free Photo Essay](https://images.examples.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/Free-Photo-Essay.jpg)
vasantvalley.org
Most Interesting Photo Essays of 2019
Now that you are educated with the fundamentals of photo essays, why not lay eyes on some great photo essays for inspiration. To give you a glimpse of a few epitomes, we collected the best and fascinating photo essays for you. The handpicked samples are as follows:
8. Toys and Us
![photo essay in home Toys and Us](https://images.examples.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/Toys-and-Us.jpg)
journals.openedition.org
This photo essay presents its subject which is the latest genre of photography, toy photography. In this type of picture taking, the photographer aims to give life on the toys and treat them as his/her model. This photography follows the idea of a toy researcher, Katrina Heljakka, who states that also adults and not only children are interested in reimagining and preserving the characters of their toys with the means of roleplay and creating a story about these toys. This photo essay is based on the self-reflection of the author on a friend’s toys in their home environment.
9. The Faces of Nature Example
![photo essay in home The Faces of Nature](https://images.examples.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/The-Faces-of-Nature.jpg)
godandnature.asa3.org
This photo essay and collection caters the creativity of the author’s mind in seeing the world. In her composition, she justified that there are millions of faces that are naturally made that some of us have not noticed. She also presented tons of photos showing different natural objects that form patterns of faces. Though it was not mentioned in the essay itself, the author has unconsciously showcased the psychological phenomenon, pareidolia. This is the tendency to translate an obscure stimulus that let the observer see faces in inanimate objects or abstract patterns, or even hearing concealed messages in music.
10. The Country Doctor Example
![photo essay in home The Country Doctor](https://images.examples.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/The-Country-Doctor.jpg)
us1.campaign-archive.com
This photo essay depicts the medical hardships in a small rural town in Colorado called Kremling. For 23 days, Smith shadowed Dr. Ernest Ceriani, witnessing the dramatic life of the small town and capturing the woeful crisis of the region. The picture in this photographic essay was photographed by Smith himself for Life magazine in 1948 but remained as fascinating as it was posted weeks ago.
11. New York City Coffeehouses
![photo essay in home New York City Coffeehouses](https://images.examples.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/New-York-City-Coffeehouses.jpg)
lens.blogs.nytimes.com
Café Latte, cappuccino, espresso, or flat white—of course, you know these if you have visited a coffee shop at least once. However, the photographer of this photo essay took it to a whole new level of experience. Within two to three days of visiting various coffee places, Mr. Gavrysh stayed most of his day observing at the finest details such as the source of the coffee, the procedure of delivering them, and the process of roasting and grounding them. He also watched how did the baristas perfect the drinks and the reaction of the customers as they received their ordered coffee with delights in their faces. Gavrysh did not mean to compose a coffeehouse guide, but to make a composition that describes modern, local places where coffee is sipped and treated with respect.
12. Hungry Planet: What The World Eats
![photo essay in home Hungry Planet What The World Eats](https://images.examples.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/Hungry-Planet_-What-The-World-Eats.jpg)
13. Photo Essay Example
![photo essay in home Photo Essay Example](https://images.examples.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/Photo-Essay-Example-.jpg)
cah.utexas.edu
14. Photo Essay in PDF
![photo essay in home Photo Essay in PDF](https://images.examples.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/Photo-Essay-in-PDF.jpg)
condor.depaul.edu
15. Sample Photo Essay Example
![photo essay in home Sample Photo Essay](https://images.examples.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/Sample-Photo-Essay.jpg)
colorado.edu
16. Basic Photo Essay Example
![photo essay in home Basic Photo Essay](https://images.examples.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/Basic-Photo-Essay.jpg)
adaptation-undp.org
17. Printable Photo Essay Example
![photo essay in home Printable Photo Essay](https://images.examples.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/Printable-Photo-Essay.jpg)
One of the basic necessity of a person to live according to his/her will is food. In this photo essay, you will see how these necessities vary in several ways. In 2005, a pair of Peter Menzel and Faith D’ Aluisio released a book that showcased the meals of an average family in 24 countries. Ecuador, south-central Mali, China, Mexico, Kuwait, Norway, and Greenland are among the nations they visited. This photo essay is written to raise awareness about the influence of environment and culture to the cost and calories of the foods laid on the various dining tables across the globe.
Photo essays are not just about photographic aesthetics but also the stories that authors built behind those pictures. In this collection of captivating photo essays, reflect on how to write your own. If you are allured and still can’t get enough, there’s no need for you to be frantic about. Besides, there are thousands of samples and templates on our website to browse. Visit us to check them all out.
What are good topics for a photo essay?
- Urban Exploration: Document the unique architecture, street life, and cultural diversity of urban environments.
- Environmental Conservation: Capture the beauty of natural landscapes or document environmental issues, showcasing the impact of climate change or conservation efforts.
- Everyday Life in Your Community: Showcase the daily lives, traditions, and activities of people in your local community.
- Family Traditions: Document the customs, rituals, and special moments within your own family or another family.
- Youth Culture: Explore the lifestyle, challenges, and aspirations of young people in your community or around the world.
- Behind-the-Scenes at an Event: Provide a backstage look at the preparation and execution of an event, such as a concert, festival, or sports competition.
- A Day in the Life of a Profession: Follow a professional in their daily activities, offering insights into their work, challenges, and routines.
- Social Issues: Address important social issues like homelessness, poverty, immigration, or healthcare, raising awareness through visual storytelling.
- Cultural Celebrations: Document cultural festivals, ceremonies, or celebrations that showcase the diversity of traditions in your region or beyond.
- Education Around the World: Explore the various facets of education globally, from classrooms to the challenges students face in different cultures.
- Workplace Dynamics: Capture the atmosphere, interactions, and diversity within different workplaces or industries.
- Street Art and Graffiti: Document the vibrant and dynamic world of street art, capturing the expressions of local artists.
- Animal Rescues or Shelters: Focus on the efforts of organizations or individuals dedicated to rescuing and caring for animals.
- Migration Stories: Explore the experiences and challenges of individuals or communities affected by migration.
- Global Food Culture: Document the diversity of food cultures, from local markets to family meals, showcasing the role of food in different societies.
How to Write a Photo Essay
First of all, you would need to find a topic that you are interested in. With this, you can conduct thorough research on the topic that goes beyond what is common. This would mean that it would be necessary to look for facts that not a lot of people know about. Not only will this make your essay interesting, but this may also help you capture the necessary elements for your images.
Remember, the ability to manipulate the emotions of your audience will allow you to build a strong connection with them. Knowing this, you need to plan out your shots. With the different emotions and concepts in mind, your images should tell a story along with the essay outline .
1. Choose Your Topic
- Select a compelling subject that interests you and can be explored visually.
- Consider the story or message you want to convey. It should be something that can be expressed through images.
2. Plan Your Essay
- Outline your narrative. Decide if your photo essay will tell a story with a beginning, middle, and end, or if it will explore a theme or concept.
- Research your subject if necessary, especially if you’re covering a complex or unfamiliar topic.
3. Capture Your Images
- Take a variety of photos. Include wide shots to establish the setting, close-ups to show details, and medium shots to focus on subjects.
- Consider different angles and perspectives to add depth and interest to your essay.
- Shoot more than you need. Having a large selection of images to choose from will make the editing process easier.
4. Select Your Images
- Choose photos that best tell your story or convey your theme.
- Look for images that evoke emotion or provoke thought.
- Ensure there’s a mix of compositions to keep the viewer engaged.
- Sequence your images in a way that makes narrative or thematic sense.
- Consider the flow and how each image transitions to the next.
- Use juxtaposition to highlight contrasts or similarities.
6. Add Captions or Text (Optional)
- Write captions to provide context or additional information about each photo. Keep them brief and impactful.
- Consider including an introduction or conclusion to frame your essay. This can be helpful in setting the stage or offering a final reflection.
7. Edit and Refine
- Review the sequence of your photos. Make sure they flow smoothly and clearly convey your intended story or theme.
- Adjust the layout as needed, ensuring that the visual arrangement is aesthetically pleasing and supports the narrative.
8. Share Your Essay
- Choose the right platform for your photo essay, whether it’s a blog, online publication, exhibition, or print.
- Consider your audience and tailor the presentation of your essay to suit their preferences and expectations.
Types of Photo Essay
Photo essays are a compelling medium to tell a story, convey emotions, or present a perspective through a series of photographs. Understanding the different types of photo essays can help photographers and storytellers choose the best approach for their project. Here are the main types of photo essays:
1. Narrative Photo Essays
- Purpose: To tell a story or narrate an event in a chronological sequence.
- Characteristics: Follows a clear storyline with a beginning, middle, and end. It often includes characters, a setting, and a plot.
- Examples: A day in the life of a firefighter, the process of crafting traditional pottery.
2. Thematic Photo Essays
- Purpose: To explore a specific theme, concept, or issue without being bound to a chronological sequence.
- Characteristics: Centers around a unified theme, with each photo contributing to the overall concept.
- Examples: The impact of urbanization on the environment, the beauty of natural landscapes.
3. Conceptual Photo Essays
- Purpose: To convey an idea or evoke a series of emotions through abstract or metaphorical images.
- Characteristics: Focuses on delivering a conceptual message or emotional response, often using symbolism.
- Examples: Loneliness in the digital age, the concept of freedom.
4. Expository or Informative Photo Essays
- Purpose: To inform or educate the viewer about a subject with a neutral viewpoint.
- Characteristics: Presents factual information on a topic, often accompanied by captions or brief texts to provide context.
- Examples: The process of coffee production, a day at an animal rescue center.
5. Persuasive Photo Essays
- Purpose: To convince the viewer of a particular viewpoint or to highlight social issues.
- Characteristics: Designed to persuade or elicit action, these essays may focus on social, environmental, or political issues.
- Examples: The effects of plastic pollution, the importance of historical preservation.
6. Personal Photo Essays
- Purpose: To express the photographer’s personal experiences, emotions, or journeys.
- Characteristics: Highly subjective and personal, often reflecting the photographer’s intimate feelings or experiences.
- Examples: A personal journey through grief, documenting one’s own home during quarantine.
7. Environmental Photo Essays
- Purpose: To showcase landscapes, wildlife, and environmental issues.
- Characteristics: Focuses on the natural world or environmental challenges, aiming to raise awareness or appreciation.
- Examples: The melting ice caps, wildlife in urban settings.
8. Travel Photo Essays
- Purpose: To explore and present the culture, landscapes, people, and experiences of different places.
- Characteristics: Captures the essence of a location, showcasing its uniqueness and the experiences of traveling.
- Examples: A road trip across the American Southwest, the vibrant streets of a bustling city.
How do you start a picture essay?
1. choose a compelling theme or topic:.
Select a theme or topic that resonates with you and has visual storytelling potential. It could be a personal project, an exploration of a social issue, or a visual journey through a specific place or event.
2. Research and Conceptualize:
Conduct research on your chosen theme to understand its nuances, context, and potential visual elements. Develop a conceptual framework for your photo essay, outlining the key aspects you want to capture.
3. Define Your Storytelling Approach:
Determine how you want to convey your narrative. Consider whether your photo essay will follow a chronological sequence, a thematic structure, or a more abstract and conceptual approach.
4. Create a Shot List:
Develop a list of specific shots you want to include in your essay. This can help guide your photography and ensure you capture a diverse range of images that contribute to your overall narrative.
5. Plan the Introduction:
Think about how you want to introduce your photo essay. The first image or series of images should grab the viewer’s attention and set the tone for the narrative.
6. Consider the Flow:
Plan the flow of your photo essay, ensuring a logical progression of images that tells a cohesive and engaging story. Consider the emotional impact and visual variety as you sequence your photographs.
7. Shoot with Purpose:
Start capturing images with your conceptual framework in mind. Focus on images that align with your theme and contribute to the overall narrative. Look for moments that convey emotion, tell a story, or reveal aspects of your chosen subject.
8. Experiment with Perspectives and Techniques:
Explore different perspectives, compositions, and photographic techniques to add visual interest and depth to your essay. Consider using a variety of shots, including wide-angle, close-ups, and detail shots.
9. Write Descriptive Captions:
As you capture images, think about the accompanying captions. Captions should provide context, additional information, or insights that enhance the viewer’s understanding of each photograph.
What are the key elements of a photo essay?
1. Theme or Topic:
Clearly defined subject matter or theme that unifies the photographs and tells a cohesive story.
2. Narrative Structure:
An intentional narrative structure that guides the viewer through the photo essay, whether chronological, thematic, or conceptual.
3. Introduction:
A strong introduction that captures the viewer’s attention and sets the tone for the photo essay.
4. Captivating Images:
A series of high-quality and visually compelling images that effectively convey the chosen theme or story.
5. Variety of Shots:
A variety of shots, including wide-angle, close-ups, detail shots, and different perspectives, to add visual interest and depth.
6. Sequencing:
Careful sequencing of images to create a logical flow and emotional impact, guiding the viewer through the narrative.
7. Captions and Text:
Thoughtful captions or accompanying text that provide context, additional information, or insights, enhancing the viewer’s understanding.
8. Conclusion:
A concluding section that brings the photo essay to a satisfying close, leaving a lasting impression on the viewer.
Purpose of a Photo Essay
With good writing skills , a person is able to tell a story through words. However, adding images for your essay will give it the dramatic effect it needs. The photographs and the text work hand in hand to create something compelling enough to attract an audience.
This connection goes beyond something visual, as photo essays are also able to connect with an audience emotionally. This is to create an essay that is effective enough to relay a given message.
5 Tips for Creating a Photo Essay
- Don’t be afraid to experiment. Find the right angle and be dramatic with your description, just be creative.
- Pay attention to detail. Chances are, your audience will notice every single detail of your photograph.
- Shoot everything. Behind a single beautiful photo is a hundred more shots.
- Don’t think twice about editing. Editing is where the magic happens. It has the ability to add more drama to your images.
- Have fun. Don’t stress yourself out too much but instead, grow from your experience.
What is a photo essay for school?
A school photo essay is a visual storytelling project for educational purposes, typically assigned to students. It involves creating a narrative using a series of carefully curated photographs on a chosen theme.
How many pictures should be in a photo essay?
The number of pictures in a photo essay varies based on the chosen theme and narrative structure. It can range from a few impactful images to a more extensive series, typically around 10-20 photographs.
Is a photo essay a story?
Yes, a photo essay is a visual storytelling form. It uses a series of carefully curated photographs to convey a narrative, evoke emotions, or communicate a specific message or theme.
What makes a photo essay unforgettable?
An unforgettable photo essay is characterized by a powerful theme, emotionally resonant images, a well-crafted narrative structure, attention to detail, and a connection that leaves a lasting impact on viewers.
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Text prompt
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Create a Photo Essay on the theme of urban exploration.
Discuss the story of a local community event through a Photo Essay.
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Teaching the Photo Essay
A picture is worth 1,000 words.
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Your students, if they’re anything like mine, love to communicate through images—photos on Instagram , GIFs shared in a text, photo stories on Snapchat. And yet, so much of our conversation in school revolves around words. Understanding text is critical to students’ success now and in the future. But do we also help students identify, read and understand images in order to become literate in the visual language that is all around us? The photo essay can be a great middle or high school assignment that will have strong appeal and grow your students’ writing skills.
What Is a Photo Essay?
For those who aren’t familiar with the term “photo essay,” have no fear. A photo essay, in its simplest form, is a series of pictures that evokes an emotion, presents an idea or helps tell a story. You’ve been exposed to photo essays for your entire life—possibly without even knowing it. For example, you may have seen Dorothea Lange’s Migrant Mother:
![art201307F03_01 teachingphotoessay](https://www.weareteachers.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/art201307f03_01.tmb-medium.jpg)
An iconic image of the Great Depression, this picture, along with Lange’s other gripping photos, helped Americans better understand the effects of poverty in California as well as across the nation. Migrant Mother is one of countless photographs that helped persuade, influence or engage viewers in ways that text alone could not.
Photo essays can feature text through articles and descriptions, or they can stand alone with simple captions to give context. The versatility of photo essays has helped the medium become a part of our culture for centuries, from the American Civil War to modern environmental disasters like the 2010 earthquake in Haiti. This versatility is also what makes the photo essay a great educational asset in classrooms today; teachers can use them in any content area. Math students can use them to show a geometric concept in real life. Science students can document a chemistry process at home. Auto students can photograph the technique—and joys and frustrations—of learning a new procedure.
So, where does a teacher begin? Read further for tips and ideas for making photo essays a part of your teaching toolbox.
Start With Photos
Introducing photo essays as a means of changing lives and changing society can hook student interest in the medium. Begin by simply showing pictures and letting students discuss their reactions. Consider this famous photo of the field at Antietam during the Civil War. Share some of the photos from this collection from CNN of 25 of the Most Iconic Photograph s or this list of 50 Influential Photographs That Changed Our World .
Each of these photographs stirs emotion and sends our minds searching for answers. As a warm-up assignment or series of assignments, have students choose (or assign randomly) a photograph to write about. What’s the story? Why did this happen? Who was involved?
DIY Photographs
Before giving a formal photo essay assignment, give students an opportunity to practice and receive feedback. Consider presenting students with several open-ended, ungraded challenges like “For class tomorrow, take a photo that depicts ‘Struggle.’” Other possible photo topics: chaos, frustration, friendship, school. Have students email you their photo homework and share it as a slideshow. Talk about the images. Do they convey the theme?
You can give examples or suggestions; however, giving too many examples and requirements can narrow students’ creativity. The purpose of this trial run is to generate conversation and introduce students to thinking like photographers, so don’t worry if the photos aren’t what you had in mind; it’s about getting feedback on what the student had in mind.
Technique 101
Even though the goal of a photo essay is to influence and create discussion, there is still benefit in giving students a crash course on simple photography concepts. Don’t feel like you have to teach a master-level course on dark-room development. Even a simple overview on the “Rule of Thirds” and the importance of perspective can be enough to help students create intentional, visually stirring photographs.
You can teach these ideas directly or have students do the work by researching on their own. They have most likely seen hundreds of movies, advertisements and photos, so these lessons are simply labeling what they’ve already experienced. Having some knowledge of composition will not only help students improve their visual literacy, it will also help empower them to take photos of their own.
Choose Your Purpose
Are students telling their own stories of their neighborhoods or their families? Are they addressing a social issue or making an argument through their images and text? A photo essay could be a great assignment in science to document a process or focus on nature.
If you are just getting started, start out small: Have students create a short photo essay (two to five images) to present a topic, process or idea you have been focusing on in class. Here’s a Photo Essay Planning Guide to share with your students.
![Photo Essay Planning Guide Image Photo Essay Planning Guide Image](https://www.weareteachers.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/photo-essay-planning-guide-image.jpg)
With pictures becoming a dominant medium in our image-filled world, it’s not a question of if we should give students practice and feedback with visual literacy, it’s a question of how . Photo essays are a simple, engaging way to start. So, what’s your plan?
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- Photojournalism Links
The 10 Best Photo Essays of the Month
![Shejaiya, the destroyed neighborhood abutting the border fence with Israel, in Gaza City, Gaza Strip. Gaza war one year anniversary](https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/gaza-ruins-tomas-munita.jpg?quality=85&w=2400)
This month’s Photojournalism Links collection highlights 10 excellent photo essays from across the world, including Tomas Munita ‘s photographs from Gaza and Israel, made on assignment for the New York Times . The work, coinciding with the first anniversary of last year’s 50 day war between Israel and Palestinian militant groups, consists of eight innovative stop-motion-sequences which take us to the streets, hospitals, and homes on both sides of the conflict, and provide an immersive glimpse of how the two groups of communities are coping, one year after.
Tomas Munita: Walking in War’s Path (The New York Times )
Brent Stirton: Tracking Ivory: Terror in Africa | Ivory’s Human Toll (National Geographic) Two strong sets of images for National Geographic magazine’s latest cover story.
Lynsey Addario: Inside the Democratic Republic of Congo’s Diamond Mines (TIME LightBox) Terrific set of images looking at Congo’s diamond mining communities.
Andres Kudacki: Spain’s Housing Crisis (TIME LightBox) Powerful three-year project on the country’s home evictions, now on show at Visa pour l’Image photojournalism festival.
Mary Ellen Mark: New Orleans (CNN Money) The legendary photographer’s final assignment, done ahead of Hurricane Katrina’s 10th anniversary.
Daniel Etter: Hands Across Water (Al Jazeera America) Moving series on a small Sea-Watch ship, with a rotating crew of just eight volunteers, trying to save refugees and migrants in the Mediterranean.
Sergey Ponomarev: On Island of Lesbos, a Microcosm of Greece’s Other Crisis: Migrants (The New York Times ) Dramatic photographs of refugees and migrants arriving to the Greek island.
Allison Joyce: Child Marriage Bangladesh (International Business Times) Heartbreaking pictures of a 15-year-old Bangladeshi girl’s wedding | See also Joyce’s other Bangladeshi child marriage series at Mashable .
Andrea Bruce: Romania’s Disappearing Girls (Al Jazeera America) The Noor photographer’s work shows how poverty and desperation drive Romanian girls into the arms of sex traffickers.
Matt Black: Geography of Poverty: Chapter 2 | Chapter 3 (MSNBC) Second and third chapters of the Magnum photographer’s ambitious project mapping poverty around the U.S.
Mikko Takkunen is an Associate Photo Editor at TIME. Follow him on Twitter @photojournalism .
![Shejaiya, the destroyed neighborhood abutting the border fence with Israel, in Gaza City, Gaza Strip. Gaza war one year anniversary](https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/gaza-ruins-tomas-munita.jpg?quality=75&w=2400)
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50+ Photo Essay Topics for A+ Essays
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Table of Contents
While most academic assignments involve writing, photo essays involve writing and photography. These assignments utilize images and words to convey messages.
When writing these essays, you’ll need photo essay ideas for students to inspire your paper. Do you need sizzling photo essay ideas for your next photo essay? Keep reading this post for photo essay ideas to jump-start your papers.
What is a Photo Essay ?
We would like to define this assignment before delving into photo essay topics for students . A photography paper is a written assignment that uses photos to tell a story or make a point. Unlike other assignments, it heavily relies on images to communicate one’s message. You can use these papers to:
- Convey news stories.
- Create awareness about critical issues.
- Share personal experiences.
- Document places or events.
- Highlight the works of artists or photographers.
Tips for Selecting Photo Essay Topics
Like other essay assignments, a photo essay requires you to have tantalizing photography essay topics that make you want to write and your readers want to read your papers. Here are tips to help you choose a good topic.
Your Interests
Since photography is a wide field, you can’t be genuinely interested in all its rich diversity. Therefore, choose a topic that resonates with your passion, for instance, street or family photography.
Narrow Your Topic
Narrow all potential argumentative photo essay topics to enable you to discuss them fully. Otherwise, an overly general topic will give you difficulties because you might not exhaust it within your assignment’s word count.
Your Audience’s Interests
Lastly, all potential photo essay ideas should align with your target readers. Write about something your readers can and want to read about.
Top Family Photo Essay Topics
Don’t struggle again to find good topics for your family photography essay. Here are great photo essay ideas for high school students .
- The best sites for family photography.
- Blunders to avoid when shooting family photos.
- Strategies to make family photographing more fun.
- Using family photo sessions to create lasting memories.
- How to use family photographs to deepen family bonds?
- The history of family photography.
- Trends in family photography.
- Insights for managing children during family photoshoots.
- Shooting family photos in the home.
- How to shoot family photos during vacation.
A Day in the Life Photo Essay Topics
Do you want topics for photo essay regarding the life of an individual? Here are photo essay ideas to give you a good head start.
- Insights to do better a day in the life photos.
- Planning for a day in the life of photography.
- Managing settings when shooting photos.
- A day in the life of a student at home.
- A day in the life of a student at school.
- A day in the life of a working mom.
- A day in the life of a stay-at-home mother.
- A day in the life of a teacher.
- A day in the life of a rural farmer.
- A day in the life of a CEO.
10 Street Style Photo Essay Topics
Taking photos in the streets can be challenging. Do you want easy photo essay ideas to guide you in your essay? Here are photo essay topic ideas for your inspiration.
- Privacy and photography in public places.
- Mastering street-style photos at night.
- Discuss different types of street photography.
- Mastering the art of documentary street photography.
- Strategies for improving urban landscape photography.
- Avoiding distractions in street photography.
- Tips on how to master street photography angles.
- Capturing gestures in street photos.
- Posing ideas for better street photographs.
- Blunders to avoid when capturing photos in the streets.
10 Architectural Photo Essay Topics
Finding suitable photo essay topics for students who want to write about architectural photography is easy. Here are photo essay ideas to inspire you.
- Challenges facing architectural photography.
- The history of architectural photography.
- How is AI transforming architectural photography?
- Trends in architectural photography.
- Mistakes to avoid in architectural photography.
- How to sharpen your architectural photography skills?
- Technologies that are transforming architectural photography.
- Comparing and contrasting architectural photography with other genres.
- Strategies for a successful career as an architectural photographer.
- Mastering camera settings for better architectural photography.
Top History of Photography Culture Photo Essay Topics
Do you want photography essay topics related to photography history? Below are sample ideas for photo essays to jump-start your next assignment.
- Photography: Exploring a rich cultural history.
- Understanding the history of war photography.
- Exploring color photography and its history.
- Tracking social documentary photography then and now.
- Reliving the great depression in photos.
- How has the invention of the first camera changed the world?
- How has the invention of digital cameras changed photography?
- Top ways portrayal of war has impacted on modern photography.
Photo Essay Example
So far, we’ve discussed ideas and shared sample topics. Below is an excerpt from a model essay to inspire you.
Ethics and Photo Manipulation
It’s critical to Identify the main factors that influence young readers’ acceptance of digital news photo manipulation. Thus, it’s critical to discuss digital ethics related to photo manipulation in the digital era.
Specifically, people need to understand and examine what affects young readers’ rejection or acceptance of digitally altered news images. A few key influencers in readers’ choices have been identified.
First, the perceived prevalence of photo manipulation affects the reader’s decision to reject or accept an altered news image. Second, media credibility determines whether readers accept or reject manipulated news photos. Third, personal Photoshop usage and knowledge also influence non-professional standards that make readers accept or reject altered photos. (Yao, Perlmutter and Liu 124)
Let’s Help You With Your Photo Essay Today
Getting the right ideas for photo essays is a strong starting point for students who want to score high grades on their assignments. Therefore, we provided you with the best photography essay ideas to inspire your future assignments. You are free to contact us if you need further academic assistance with your assignments.
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KB5042421: CrowdStrike issue impacting Windows endpoints causing an 0x50 or 0x7E error message on a blue screen
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Microsoft has identified an issue impacting Windows endpoints that are running the CrowdStrike Falcon agent. These endpoints might encounter error messages 0x50 or 0x7E on a blue screen and experience a continual restarting state.
We have received reports of successful recovery from some customers attempting multiple restart operations on affected Windows endpoints.
We are working with CrowdStrike to provide the most up-to-date information available on this issue. Please check back for updates on this ongoing issue.
Important: We have released a USB tool to help automate this manual repair process. For more information, see New recovery tool to help with CrowdStrike issue impacting Windows devices .
To resolve this issue, follow these instructions for your version of Windows.
Hold the power button for 10 seconds to turn off your device and then press the power button again to turn on your device.
On the Windows sign-in screen, press and hold the Shift key while you select Power > Restart .
![photo essay in home Choose an option](https://support.content.office.net/en-us/media/02558019-5159-4b7d-ab25-af0b14b1ef4f.png)
Restart your device. Note You may be asked to enter your BitLocker recovery key . When the device restarts, continue pressing F4 and then it will log you in to safe mode. Please note, for some devices, you need to press F11 to log in through safe mode.
Once in safe mode, right-click Start , click Run , type cmd in the Open box, and then click OK .
If your system drive is different than C:\, type C: and then press Enter . This will switch you to the C:\ drive.
Type the following command and then press Enter:
CD C:\Windows\System32\drivers\CrowdStrike
Note In this example, C is your system drive. This will change to the CrowdStrike directory.
Once in the CrowdStrike directory, locate the file matching “C-00000291*.sys”. To do this, type the following command and then press Enter :
dir C-00000291*.sys
Permanently delete the file(s) found. To do this, type the following command and then press Enter .
del C-00000291*.sys
Manually search for any files that match “C-00000291*.sys” and delete them.
Restart your device.
On the Windows sign-in screen, press and hold the Shift key while you select Power > Restart .
![photo essay in home Choose an option](https://support.content.office.net/en-us/media/cdca3362-ad80-49da-8417-67b1c34c6028.png)
Restart your device. Note You may be asked to enter your BitLocker recovery key .
When the device restarts, continue pressing F4 and then it will log you in to safe mode.
Once in safe mode, right-click Start , click Run , type cmd in the Open box, and then click OK .
Type in the following command and then press Enter :
Note In this example C is your system drive. This will change to the CrowdStrike directory.
Recovery methods
If you receive the Windows Recovery screen, use one of the following methods to recover your device.
Method 1: Use Enable safe mode
Hold the power button for 10 seconds to turn off your device and thenpress the power button again to turn on your device.
On the Windows sign-in screen, press and hold the Shift key while you select Power > Restart .
After your device restarts to the Choose an option screen, select Troubleshoot > Advanced options > Startup Settings > Enable safe mode . Then, restart your device. Note You might be asked to enter your BitLocker recovery key . When the device restarts, continue pressing F4 and then it will log you in to safe mode. Please note, for some devices, you need to press F11 to log in through safe mode.
If the screen asks for a BitLocker recovery key, use your phone and log on to https://aka.ms/aadrecoverykey . Log on with your Email ID and domain account password to find the BitLocker recovery key associated with your device. To locate your BitLocker recovery key, click Manage Devices > View Bitlocker Keys > Show recovery key .
![photo essay in home Command Prompt](https://support.content.office.net/en-us/media/c764cee3-b22c-4115-9052-fa59c7a1107c.png)
If your system drive is different than C:\, type C: and then press Enter . This will switch you to the C:\ drive.
Type the following command and then press Enter :
Tip: CD C:\Windows\System32\drivers\CrowdStrike
Note In this example, C is your system drive. This will change to the CrowdStrike directory.
After your device restarts to the Choose an option screen, select Troubleshoot > Advanced options > Startup Settings > Enable safe mode . Then restart your device again. Note You might be asked to enter your BitLocker recovery key . When the device restarts, continue pressing F4 and then it will log you into safe mode. Please note, for some devices, you need to press F11 to log in through safe mode.
If the screen asks for a BitLocker recovery key, then use your phone and log on to https://aka.ms/aadrecoverykey . Log on with your Email ID and domain account password to find the bit locker recovery key associated with your device. To locate your BitLocker recovery key, click Manage Devices > View Bitlocker Keys > Show recovery key .
Select the name of the device where you see the BitLocker prompt. In the expanded window, select View BitLocker Keys . Go back to your device and input the BitLocker key that you see on your phone or secondary device.
![photo essay in home Safe Mode Command Prompt](https://support.content.office.net/en-us/media/d4923fb1-63db-470b-9328-b3f73c048f0f.png)
Note In this example, C is your system drive. This will change to the CrowdStrike directory.
Method 2: Use System Restore
After your device restarts to the Choose an option screen, select Troubleshoot > Advanced options > System Restore .
If the screen asks for a BitLocker recovery key, use your phone and log on to https://aka.ms/aadrecoverykey . Login with your email id and domain account password to find the bit locker recovery key associated with your device. To locate your BitLocker recovery key, click Manage Devices > View Bitlocker Keys > Show recovery key .
![photo essay in home Command Prompt](https://support.content.office.net/en-us/media/5c1f4234-5610-4034-8c28-4dc8f6f95473.png)
Click Next on System Restore.
Select the Restore option in the list, click Next , and then click Finish .
Click Yes to confirm the restore. Note This will perform just the Windows system restore and personal data should not be impacted. This process might take up to 15 minutes to complete.
If the screen asks for a BitLocker recovery key, use your phone and log on to https://aka.ms/aadrecoverykey . Log in with your Email ID and domain account password to find the bit locker recovery key associated with your device. To locate your BitLocker recovery key, click Manage Devices > View Bitlocker Keys > Show recovery key .
Select the Restore option in the list, click Next , and then click Finish .
Contact CrowdStrike
If after following the above steps, if you still experience issues logging into your device, please reach out to CrowdStrike for additional assistance.
Start your PC in safe mode in Windows
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We provide third-party contact information to help you find technical support. This contact information may change without notice. We do not guarantee the accuracy of this third-party contact information.
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R.m.s titanic - history and significance.
![Undersea photograph of a steering mechanism that held the ship’s wheel. (Image credit: NOAA Photo Library) Undersea photograph of a steering mechanism that held the ship’s wheel.](https://www.noaa.gov/sites/default/files/2022-07/titanic-steering.png)
History, Culture and Iconic Interests in the United States and Abroad The R.M.S. Titanic is perhaps the most famous shipwreck in our current popular culture. Titanic was a British-registered ship in the White Star line that was owned by a U.S. company in which famed American financier John Pierpont "JP" Morgan was a major stockholder. Titanic was built in Belfast, Northern Ireland by Harland & Wolff for transatlantic passage between Southampton, England and New York City. It was the largest and most luxurious passenger ship of its time and was reported to be unsinkable. Titanic, launched on May 31, 1911 , and set sail on its maiden voyage from Southampton on April 10, 1912, with 2,240 passengers and crew on board. On April 15, 1912, after striking an iceberg, Titanic broke apart and sank to the bottom of the ocean, taking with it the lives of more than 1,500 passengers and crew. While there has been some salvage outside of the major hull portions, most of the ship remains in its final resting place, 12,000 feet below sea level and over 350 nautical miles off the coast of Newfoundland, Canada. Its famous story of disaster and human drama has been and continues to be recounted in numerous books, articles, and movies. Titanic has been recognized by the United States Congress for its national and international significance and, in many ways, has become a cultural icon. The disaster also resulted in a number of memorials around the world. In the United States, there are major memorials in Washington D.C . offsite link and New York offsite link ; the Widener Library offsite link at Harvard University is another major memorial commemorating Henry Elkins Widener, a victim of the sinking. Investigation and the Development of Measures for Safety in Navigation The sinking of Titanic was one of the deadliest peacetime maritime disasters in history and quickly became a catalyst for change. The United States Congress held hearings offsite link on the casualty that resulted in a report offsite link and measures to improve safety of navigation offsite link . Similar investigations were held in the United Kingdom. The international community readily came together for the purpose of establishing global maritime standards and regulations to promote safety of navigation, the most important of which was the Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea (SOLAS), widely regarded as the most important of all international agreements on the safety of merchant ships.
![photo essay in home Some of these links are to external sites.](https://www.gc.noaa.gov/images/clip_image002_0007.png)
- Frequently Asked Questions on History and Significance
- Titanic’s 100th Birthday May 31, 2012 NOAA
- One hundred years after the sinking of Titanic is the IMO World Maritime Day theme for 2012 offsite link
- R.M.S. Titanic Maritime Memorial Act of 1986 (1986 Act)
- International Agreement Concerning the Shipwrecked Vessel RMS Titanic
- NOAA Guidelines for Research, Exploration and Salvage of RMS Titanic
- IMO, the Titanic, and the Safety of Life at Sea Convention (SOLAS) offsite link
Last Updated July 18, 2024
Take Better Night-Mode Photos With These Easy Pro Photography Tips
The tips from a pro photographer will help you take better photos at night, no matter what phone you have.
![photo essay in home photo essay in home](https://www.cnet.com/a/img/resize/d7805264f4314f0ff1f8f0c0f107fd89116a22e8/hub/2022/02/25/56b8ec93-34c3-4ad0-ab9e-82b1413e0e9a/pp.jpg?auto=webp&fit=crop&height=96&width=96)
- Shortlisted for British Photography Awards 2022, Commended in Landscape Photographer of the Year 2022
![photo essay in home Galaxy S23 Ultra next to a Pixel 7 Pro and iPhone 14 Pro](https://www.cnet.com/a/img/resize/3da00f17096148f8fdfb3dcf3f7934d33a26d33a/hub/2022/10/11/a5436bfa-4a86-4c23-a739-6a375368999b/pixel-7-pro-watch-lanxon-promo-25.jpg?auto=webp&fit=crop&height=675&width=1200)
Phone cameras used to be useless in the dark, but the best camera phones you can buy today can take truly superb photos at night time. The best phones of 2024 like the iPhone 15 Pro and Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra have night modes that allow them to take bright, sharp images even in the middle of the night, while Xiaomi's 14 Ultra has seriously impressed us with its night shots from its large sensor. Even more affordable phones like the Pixel 8A are equipped with astonishingly capable nighttime photography skills.
This kind of night photography used to require a DSLR on a tripod to take long exposures over several seconds. Today's phones can take excellent-looking images at night without needing any extra equipment. That's great because it means you don't need to carry a heavy camera and tripod into town every time you want to get a good-looking shot after sundown.
![photo essay in home Boat on a river at night](https://www.cnet.com/a/img/resize/857d694aa3d939bc89192255260dee79f2676d46/hub/2022/11/09/63a6ea61-4dd4-49ac-b502-6e0661ab8401/boat-s22.jpg?auto=webp&width=1200)
Samsung's recent Galaxy S range of flagship phones has had amazing night-mode cameras.
Getting an image you like enough to print and put on your wall isn't just a case of waiting for darkness and whipping out your phone. You'll still need to put in some work to take shots that you'll want to look back on in years to come.
I've been a professional photographer for years and frequently shoot images at night on my pro camera and my phone. Here then are my top tips on how to get great images at night on any phone.
Read more: Best Camera Phone
1. Know how to activate night mode
If your phone has a night mode, it's important to make sure it's actually activated before you start shooting. On phones like the iPhone 15 series, or other recent iPhones, night mode will automatically kick in when the phone detects you're in a low-light situation. Some Android phones have automatic night modes too, while others will require you to use specific night shooting modes (on the Galaxy S24 range it's called simply Night; on the Pixel 8 it's Night Sight).
Different phones may have different options or naming conventions, so if you're unsure how to use yours -- or if your phone even has one -- then a quick Google search of the model and "night mode" should answer your questions. Night modes have increasingly become a must-have feature on camera phones, so odds are if you've bought a new phone in the past couple of years, then it'll have some kind of night mode built in.
![photo essay in home Example shot of building columns covered in festive lights](https://www.cnet.com/a/img/resize/9689ddc8479a395d25d234f72e0492295a83b6bd/hub/2020/12/10/0ead65ea-f142-4a91-95b2-74986e4e75c1/img-0408.jpg?auto=webp&width=1200)
This nighttime photo has been made all the more vibrant and dazzling by these incredible Christmas lights festooning the columns.
2. Look for the light
Although recent iPhones and Galaxy phones can take amazing low-light images, you still need to have some light in the shot to make a compelling image. So, heading into the darkest part of a forest isn't likely to give you good results. Instead, try going to populated areas like city centers, where you'll find light sources in the form of street lamps, shop window displays and maybe even some festive lighting during the holidays.
Read more : Best iPhone Camera Accessories
3. Wait for your moment
Great city and street photography often include a person as a subject in your shot, and nighttime can be an awesome time to take those images. When the light is limited, you need to make sure that person is exactly where you want them to be, and that can involve some patience.
![photo essay in home Two examples of night mode photos, taken on dark city streets](https://www.cnet.com/a/img/resize/870398a91b3e2b08f37da879360b95fec91fad2b/hub/2020/12/10/20a96b01-8f19-4e4d-8a04-6f4ff65c91be/iphone-12-pro-max-night-mode-proraw-examples.jpg?auto=webp&width=1200)
Both of these night-mode images rely heavily on timing -- on the left it was getting the lone figure walking in the main pool of light on the ground. On the right, it was about capturing the cyclist speeding past.
For instance, imagine you're taking a shot on a road lit by streetlamps. Each lamp casts a pool of light, and as someone walks through it, they're temporarily lit up before becoming effectively invisible again in the darkness. In that situation, my advice is to have your shot ready, with your finger hovering over that shutter button. It may take some minutes of waiting, but eventually, someone will walk exactly through that pool of light and you can take your shot. Patience can really pay off.
4. Steady yourself
Even though night modes on phones don't require a tripod in the same way a multisecond exposure on a DSLR would, you'll still get your best results if you keep the phone as still as possible while taking your image. If you don't have a tripod with you, then look around for a low wall, a trash can or anything you can steady your phone on while you get your shot.
If there's nothing nearby, you can help steady the phone by keeping it firmly in both hands, holding it fairly close to your chest and tucking your elbows in toward your stomach. This will help reduce some of the natural wobble in your hands and may make the difference in getting a sharper image.
![photo essay in home long exposure photo of a car with light streaks](https://www.cnet.com/a/img/resize/7c57318d52c56461ddd7bb9138f8317065279e1f/hub/2022/11/10/e5b6cdde-e250-4db0-8a33-1ee6863fdc48/long-exposure-night-pixel.jpg?auto=webp&width=1200)
A long-exposure nighttime image taken with the Pixel 7 Pro.
5. Use Motion modes, if you have them
The Pixel 8 and 8 Pro (as well as the earlier Pixel 7 series) can take excellent regular photos at night, but they also have a long-exposure mode that allows you to get some creative shots that would normally only be achievable using a tripod. While the mode works well in the daytime to blur things like waterfalls, it also works extremely well at night, especially for subjects like cars driving down city streets.
The long exposure blurs the headlights and taillights, turning them from static balls of light into ethereal lines, snaking their way through the scene. You'll need to use the phone's Motion mode to get this effect and make sure that Long Exposure is toggled on. Long-exposure photos like this work best when you keep the camera still and take a photo that includes both static subjects (like buildings and streetlamps) and moving subjects (like cars, buses or cyclists). It can take some practice -- and results can be hit and miss -- but when it works, it works really well and adds an extra creative element to your night shots.
Not every phone has this as standard, though, and though there are some third-party apps that aim to replicate it, I haven't found many that really work or that come close to the quality I've achieved with the Pixels.
![photo essay in home Before and after editing image examples](https://www.cnet.com/a/img/resize/652d14b009b3239bccb3c105e1cb65caa3f5f989/hub/2020/12/10/99444831-1adf-4826-984c-0794eee07372/iphone-12-pro-max-image-editing.jpg?auto=webp&width=1200)
I love this black and white edit of a nighttime photo. The natural contrast of bright street lights against the shadowy backgrounds translates well to monochrome.
6. Edit your shots
As with any good photo, taking the shot is only half the story; it's how you edit it that can be the biggest way to transform it into a real piece of art. I use Adobe Lightroom Mobile for most of my editing, but Google's Snapseed is really powerful as well and is totally free on iOS and Android.
By their nature, night photos may well be dark, so it's possible you might want to start by lifting the exposure. Be careful: Low-light images, even good night-mode shots, will have image noise (a fuzzy grain) that will look worse and worse the more you brighten the image. You may need to reduce some of the highlights (especially if you've captured bright street lights) and boost the shadows a touch to balance things out. Pay attention to the details and make sure you're not pushing it too far.
From then on, it's entirely down to what you feel looks good, so spend some time playing around with the tools available and see what you can come up with. I personally find that nighttime scenes can often look great as black and white images because the natural contrast of bright lights and dark backgrounds lends itself well to a monochrome conversion.
![photo essay in home photo essay in home](https://www.cnet.com/a/img/resize/394a406d5d829c2823cb69430f87c8074162fb81/hub/2023/09/19/e82aa695-7075-45b0-af62-f9df2558d879/iphone15pro-promax-review-clean.jpg?auto=webp&width=768)
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Nursing aide turned sniper: Thomas Crooks' mysterious plot to kill Trump
![photo essay in home photo essay in home](https://www.gannett-cdn.com/authoring/images/smg/2024/07/13/USAT/74396748007-donald-trump_1.jpeg?crop=999,563,x0,y18)
BUTLER, Pa. – Donald Trump and would-be assassin Thomas Crooks started on their violent collision course long before the former president's political rally ended in gunshots and death.
Crooks, 20, was a one-time registered Republican, a nursing home worker with no criminal record, shy in school, and living in a decent middle-class neighborhood in suburban Pennsylvania with his parents. Trump, 78, was eyeing Crooks' state as a key battleground – but not in the way that anyone envisioned on Saturday.
Riding high on polls showing that he's got a strong chance of toppling President Joe Biden, the former president had been campaigning for reelection in swing states, and Pennsylvania is a key prize. Trump won the state in 2016 but lost it four years later.
And on July 3, Trump's campaign announced he would hold a rally at the Butler Farm Show grounds, about 30 miles north of Pittsburgh.
"Pennsylvania has been ravaged by monumental surges in violent crime as a direct result of Biden’s and Democrats’ pro-criminal policies," Trump's campaign said in announcing the event, noting that when he's elected, he'll "re-establish law and order in Pennsylvania!"
The Saturday attack on Trump turned the heated rhetoric of the 2024 presidential campaign freshly violent. Authorities said bullets fired from Crooks' AR-15 style rifle about 150 yards away grazed Trump's ear, killed a rally attendee as he dove to protect his family, and critically wounded two others. Secret Service agents killed Crooks moments later.
Attack planned well in advance
Investigators are still seeking Crooks' motive – despite his Republican leanings, he had donated recently to a progressive voter-turnout campaign in 2021 – but indicated he'd planned the attack well in advance.
The shooting marks the first assassination attempt against a former or current U.S. president since President Ronald Reagan was injured in a March 1981 shooting at a Washington, D.C., hotel.
There are many questions about why Crooks turned into a would-be presidential assassin, firing indiscriminately into hordes of political supporters.
FBI special agent Kevin Rojek said on a call with media that law enforcement located "a suspicious device" when they searched Crooks' vehicle and that it's being analyzed at the FBI crime lab.
"As far as the actions of the shooter immediately prior to the event and any interaction that he may have had with law enforcement, we're still trying to flesh out those details now," Rojek said.
None of Crooks' shocked neighbors or high school classmates described him as violent or that he in any way signaled he was intent on harming Trump. Sunday morning, reporters and curious locals swarmed the leafy streets of the home where Crooks lived with his parents in Bethel Park, about 50 miles from the shooting scene.
Those who knew him described a quiet young man who often walked to work at a nearby nursing home. One classmate said he was bullied and often ate alone in high school.
Sunday morning, neighbor Cathy Caplan, 45, extended her morning walk about a quarter mile to glimpse what was happening outside Crooks’ home.“It came on the morning news and I was like ‘I know that street,’” said Caplan, who works for the local school district. "It feels like something out of a movie.”
Dietary aide turned deadly killer
Authorities say they are examining Crooks' phone, social media and online activity for motivation. They said he carried no identification and his body had to be identified via DNA and biometric confirmation.
Although no possible motive has yet been released, Crooks nevertheless embodies the achingly familiar profile of an American mass shooter: a young white man, isolated from peers and armed with a high-powered rifle. His attack was one of at least 59 shootings in the United States on Saturday, according to the Gun Violence Archive.
According to records and online posts of the ceremony, Crooks graduated from Bethel Park High School, about 42 miles from Butler County, on June 3, 2022. That same day, Trump met briefly with investigators at his Mar-a-Lago club in Florida as they examined whether he improperly took classified documents with him when he left the White House.
A classmate remembered Crooks as a frequent target of bullies. Kids picked on him for wearing camouflage to class and his quiet demeanor, Jason Kohler, 21, said. Crooks usually ate lunch alone, Kohler said.
Crooks worked as a dietary aide at the Bethel Park Skilled Nursing and Rehabilitation, less than a mile from his home. In a statement provided to USA TODAY on Sunday, Marcie Grimm, the facility's administrator, said she was "shocked and saddened to learn of his involvement."
Neighbor Dean Sierka, 52, has known Crooks and his parents for years. The families live a few doors apart on a winding suburban street, and Sierka’s daughter, who attended elementary, middle and high school with Crooks, remembers him as quiet and shy. Sierka said they saw Crooks at least once a week, often when he was walking to the nursing home from his parents' three-bedroom brick house.
"You wouldn’t have expected this," Sierka said. "The parents and the family are all really nice people."
"It's crazy," he added.
Secret Service role: Did they do enough?
Founded in 1865, the Secret Service is supposed to stop this kind of attack, and dozens of agents were present Saturday. As the former president and presumptive Republican presidential nominee, Trump's public appearances are managed by the Secret Service, which works with local law enforcement to develop security plans and crowd-management protocols.
In the days before the event, the agency's experts would have scouted the location, identified security vulnerabilities, and designed a perimeter to keep Trump and rally attendees safe. Congress and the Secret Service are now investigating how Crooks was able to get so close to the former president, and several witnesses reported seeing him in the area with the gun before Trump took the stage.
As the event doors opened at 1 p.m., the temperature was already pushing close to 90, and ticketed attendees oozed through metal detectors run by members of the Secret Service's uniformed division. Similar to airport security screenings, rallygoers emptied their pockets to prove they weren't carrying guns or other weapons.
Media reports indicate the Secret Service had in place, as usual, a counter-sniper team scanning the surrounding area for threats.
In an exclusive interview, former Secret Service Director Julia Pierson told USA TODAY that maintaining such a sniper security perimeter is part of the agency's responsibility for safeguarding protectees like Trump from harm. She said agents typically consider 1,000 yards to be the minimum safe distance for sniper attacks.
The Secret Service has confirmed that it is investigating how Crooks got so close to Trump, who took the stage shortly after 6 p.m. Officials say Crooks' rifle was legally obtained but have not yet released specifics.
Outside the venue at that time, Greg Smith says he tried desperately to get the attention of police. He told the BBC that he and his friends saw a man crawling along a roof overlooking the rally. Other witnesses said they also saw a man atop the American Glass Research building outside the official event security perimeter, well within the range of a 5.56 rifle bullet.
"We noticed the guy bear-crawling up the roof of the building beside us, 50 feet away from us," Smith told the BBC. "He had a rifle, we could clearly see him with a rifle."
Smith told the BBC that the Secret Service eventually saw him and his friends pointing at the man on the roof.
"I'm thinking to myself, why is Trump still speaking, why have they not pulled him off the stage?" Smith said. "Next thing you know, five shots rang out."
From his nearby deck, Trump supporter Pat English watched as the former president took the stage to Lee Greenwood's "God Bless the U.S.A.," and attendees raised their cell phones to record.
English had taken his grandson to see the rally earlier but left when it got too hot. From his deck, they listened as Trump began speaking at 6:05 p.m., backed by a crown of red-hatted MAGA supporters waving "fire Joe Biden" signs.
And then gunfire began.
Boom, boom, boom
"I heard a 'boom, boom, boom' and then screams,” English said Sunday. "I could see people running and the police run in."
Trump was saying the word "happened" as the first pop rang out. He reached up to grab his ear as two more shots echoed, and the crowd behind him – and Trump himself – ducked. Plainclothes Secret Service agents piled atop the president as a fusillade of shots rang out, apparently the Secret Service killing Crooks.
The crowd screamed, and the venue's sound system picked up the agents atop Trump planning to move the former president to safety. One yelled, "shooter's down. Let's move, let's move."
The agents then helped Trump back to his feet as they shielded him on all sides.
The sound system then picked up Trump's voice: "Wait, wait," he said, before turning to the audience and triumphantly raising his fist to yell "fight, fight" as the crowd cheered, blood streaming down his face.
By 6:14 p.m. Trump's motorcade was racing from the scene, and in a later statement, Trump's campaign said he was checked out at a local medical facility.
"I was shot with a bullet that pierced the upper part of my right ear," Trump said in a statement. "I knew immediately that something was wrong in that I heard a whizzing sound, shots, and immediately felt the bullet ripping through the skin. Much bleeding took place, so I realized then what was happening."
Firefighter 'hero' gunned down
Outside of the Butler Township Administration Office Sunday afternoon, Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro identified the rally attendee killed by Crooks as Corey Comperatore, a firefighter, father of two and longtime Trump supporter.
“Corey died a hero,” Shapiro said. “Corey dove on his family to protect them last night at this rally. Corey was the very best of us. May his memory be a blessing.”
Two other Pennsylvanians are still undergoing treatment for their injuries, Shapiro said.
Pennsylvania State Police identified two wounded attendees David Dutch, 57, of New Kensington, and James Copenhaver, 74, of Moon Township. Both are hospitalized and listed in stable condition. Shapiro said he spoke with the family of one victim and received a message from the other.
Biden spoke briefly with Trump on Saturday night, and the president condemned the assassination attempt as “sick.” He said there’s no place for political violence in the U.S. and called on Americans to unite together to condemn it.
But earlier in the week, Biden told campaign donors in a private phone call it was time to stop talking about his own disastrous presidential debate performance and start targeting Trump instead.
"I have one job and that's to beat Donald Trump," Biden said. "We're done talking about the (June 27) debate. It's time to put Trump in the bullseye."
Republicans across the country have used similar language to attack their opponents over the years, and political scientists say violent rhetoric used worldwide almost invariably leads to physical violence.
On Sunday, someone parked a truck-mounted electronic billboard at the gates to the Butler Farm Show grounds reading "Democrats attempted assassination," along with a picture of Trump clutching an American flag, his face overlaid with a bullseye crosshairs.
Authorities say they have not yet determined a motive for Crooks' attack. But in a statement, Trump declared the shooting an act of evil and thanked God for preventing the unthinkable.
"We will fear not, but instead remain resilient in our faith and defiant in the face of wickedness," Trump said.
And he said he'd be back on the campaign trail for the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee, which starts Monday.
"Based on yesterday’s terrible events, I was going to delay my trip to Wisconsin, and the Republican National Convention, by two days," Trump said on his Truth Social account Sunday, "but have just decided that I cannot allow a 'shooter,' or potential assassin, to force change to scheduling, or anything else."
Contributing: David Jackson, Aysha Bagchi, Christopher Cann, Bryce Buyakie, Emily Le Coz, Josh Meyer, USA TODAY Network
How the assassination attempt unfolded : Graphics, maps, audio analysis show what happened
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COMMENTS
3. Take your time. A great photo essay is not done in a few hours. You need to put in the time to research it, conceptualizing it, editing, etc. That's why I previously recommended following your passion because it takes a lot of dedication, and if you're not passionate about it - it's difficult to push through. 4.
How to Create a Photo Essay: Step-by-Step Guide With Examples. Photo essays tell a story in pictures, and there are many different ways to style your own photo essay. With a wide range of topics to explore, a photo essay can be thought-provoking, emotional, funny, unsettling, or all of the above, but mostly, they should be unforgettable.
Choose an idea, hone your unique perspective on it, then start applying the 9 simple steps from above. The life of a plant or animal (your favorite species, a species living in your yard, etc) The many shapes of a single species (a tree species, a bird species, etc) How a place changes over time.
The idea of a photo essay is to create a whole, not a bunch of random parts. Think gestalt. The images must interact with each other. Repetition helps achieve this end. Recurring themes, moods ...
Here are some handy essay ideas and examples for inspiration! 1. A day in the life. Your first photo essay idea is simple: Track a life over the course of one day. You might make an essay about someone else's life. Or the life of a location, such as the sidewalk outside your house.
5. Place Over Time. View the "At Home in the Ozarks" photo essay by Kylee Cole. If you want to document changes and show how the streets, buildings, and parks in your city change over time, select your favorite locations and start to visit them regularly to capture the way they look during different seasons. 6.
4. Event Photo Essay. Events are happening in your local area all the time, and they can make great photo essays. With a little research, you can quickly find many events that you could photograph. There may be bake sales, fundraisers, concerts, art shows, farm markets, block parties, and other non profit event ideas.
1. Create visual structure. An authentic photo essay requires visual markers to help transform a collection of images into a narrative. For example, photo chapter headings in Growing up young introduce each new girl in the story.. Similarly, in SBS's photojournalism story — 28 days in Afghanistan, mentioned above — each dated header delineates a part of the story, providing an easy-to ...
From Taylor Dorrell's photo essay White Fences: "White Fences is an ongoing photo series that explores the theme of suburban youth in the United States, specifically in the midwest suburb New Albany, Ohio.". Put your emotions aside. Self-doubt can easily come into play when working with your own photography. The adage that we are our own worst critics is often true.
Top 17 Photo Essay Examples. Here are some fantastic ideas to get you inspired to create your own photo essays! 17. Photograph a Protest. Protests tend to be lively events. You will find people standing, moving, and holding banners and signs. This is a great way to practice on a moving crowd.
Taking a look at how other photographers have approached the same - or similar - subjects can help you figure out the angle you wish to take. This photo essay by Maximilian M. Meduna takes an alternative approach to a popular photo topic - the United States 3 Make a structured plan . Once your research is complete, it's time to make a detailed and structured plan about how you're going to ...
An immersive photo essay uses rich media and story design to capture and keep the reader's attention. Immersive content is typically free of the most distracting elements of the web, such as pop-ups, skyscrapers, and other intrusions on the reading experience. As a basic rule of thumb, immersive content respects the reader's attention.
7. Include a clincher. This image may not be apparent to you in the beginning, but most photographers say they know it when they see it. It's an image that wraps up the essay for the viewer. This image should say "the end," give a call to action, or show the end result of a day in the life or how to sequence.
A photo essay is a powerful tool for storytelling, using a series of images to convey a narrative, explore a theme, or express an idea. Unlike a single photograph, a photo essay allows for a more comprehensive exploration of a subject, combining the power of visual imagery with the depth of storytelling.
A photo essay is a form of visual storytelling that develops a narrative across a series of photographs. It originated during the late 1920s in German illustrated journals, initially presenting stories in the objective, distanced tone of news reporting. The photo essay gained wide popularity with the growth of photographically illustrated magazines such as VU (launched in Paris in 1928), LIFE ...
32 Photo Essay Examples (Plus Tips) Photography is a medium that allows you to explore narratives and tell stories about the world around you. One form of storytelling is the photo essay. If you want to create your own photo essay, it can help to know the two main types of essays and some examples of potential subjects. In this article, we ...
Famous Photo Essays. "The Great Depression" by Dorothea Lange - Shot and arranged in the 1930s, this famous photo essay still serves as a stark reminder of The Great Depression and Dust Bowl America. Beautifully photographed, the black and white images offer a bleak insight to one of the country's most difficult times.
Unlike thematic photo essays, narrative photo essays give less freedom to the photo essayist. The use of text is to have some sense of completion to the story. For instance, the 28 Days in Afghanistan by Andrew Quilty published in the SBS is a narrative photo essay that documents the photographer's experience in the war-torn nation using both ...
6. Include Captions or Text (Optional) Write captions to provide context, add depth, or explain the significance of each photo. Keep text concise and impactful, letting the images remain the focus. 7. Present Your Photo Essay. Choose a platform for presentation, whether online, in a gallery, or as a printed booklet.
The photo essay is a persuasive narrative, the visual details of which show a subject, theme, and sense of purpose. For example, one of the most famous photo essays is Eugene Smith's revelation ...
Teaching the Photo Essay. A picture is worth 1,000 words. By We Are Teachers Staff. Sep 2, 2015. Your students, if they're anything like mine, love to communicate through images—photos on Instagram, GIFs shared in a text, photo stories on Snapchat. And yet, so much of our conversation in school revolves around words.
This month's Photojournalism Links collection highlights 10 excellent photo essays from across the world, ... New OrleansThom and Mom at home. Thom Schulingkamp, 26, lives with 4p-syndrome ...
Here are photo essay ideas to give you a good head start. Insights to do better a day in the life photos. Planning for a day in the life of photography. Managing settings when shooting photos. A day in the life of a student at home. A day in the life of a student at school. A day in the life of a working mom.
A photo by the London-based Daily Mirror also shows the flag flying between the cranes from a different angle. Fact check : Man pretended he was Trump rally shooter in a viral video
Important: We have released a USB tool to help automate this manual repair process.For more information, see New recovery tool to help with CrowdStrike issue impacting Windows devices.
A steering mechanism that held the ship's wheel. (NOAA Photo Library) History, Culture and Iconic Interests in the United States and Abroad The R.M.S. Titanic is perhaps the most famous shipwreck in our current popular culture.Titanic was a British-registered ship in the White Star line that was owned by a U.S. company in which famed American financier John Pierpont "JP" Morgan was a major ...
Long-exposure photos like this work best when you keep the camera still and take a photo that includes both static subjects (like buildings and streetlamps) and moving subjects (like cars, buses ...
Michael Harrigan, a retired F.B.I. special agent, said the image captured by Doug Mills, a New York Times photographer, seems to show a bullet streaking past former President Donald J. Trump.
Body-camera footage showing the fatal police shooting of Sonya Massey, a 36-year-old Black woman who had called 911 for help, was released Monday in a case that has led to murder charges against a ...
BUTLER, Pa. - Donald Trump and would-be assassin Thomas Crooks started on their violent collision course long before the former president's political rally ended in gunshots and death. Crooks ...