Commercial Photography
GTCU2003
Narrative Photography
Last Updated 6 September 2025
This lecture aims to outline ideas of how narrative and
photography may (or may not) intersect.
Dr Damien Tomaselli
Office Number: CC 502 R-22
DamienTomaselli@uic.edu.cn
Narrative Photography - Definition
Narrative photography
proposes that an image or a
series of images can make
unfold a story or make many
stories unfold.
It is visual storytelling
through photographs.
Rajasthan, India (2009)
Steve McCurry
Narrative Photography - Debate
Are photographs capable of telling stories?
Arguments:
• A Photography captures single discrete moments, therefore there is no narrative
(that which has beginning, middle, and end. Narrative is irreducibly durative).
• Photography is only a face. How can one look at it and think, feel, or intuit what is
beyond it?
• The camera’s rendering of reality hides more than it discloses. Everything that we
see hides another thing, Rene Magritte.
Narrative Photography - Debate
• Only that which narrates can make
• Photograph cannot tell a story, so
us understand; photography does not
invitations to understand the story is
make us understand anything.
only arrive at an illusion of knowledge.
narrate, therefore photography cannot
to deduce, speculate, and fantasize. We
• In photography, the photographer
Are photographs capable of telling
picture; in truth the viewers are getting
The Answer:
invites us to get meaning out of the
only their meaning to the extant of what
they have seen, heard, and read.
stories?
Narrative Photography - Debate
•
It may be true, that there is no
narrative story in a photograph. There is
no beginning, middle, and end. But that
is not the end. All fiction (story) is a well
constructed fight against the absurd.
They polish life for us, in the pretense of
making it sensible to us.
• On the contrary, photography does not
polish life for us. Photography facilitates
narrative; it facilitates raw narratives.
Photography is a window to the absurd.
These are real images of life. It shows
you life.
•
An artist puts meaning into a piece of
art, so that it fights against the absurd.
A writer puts meaning into a piece of
writing, so that it fights against the
absurd. Photography does not put
meaning into it, it just shows an image
from life.
• It makes the viewer see the unpolished
state of affairs (a story).
The debate is on.
Narrative Photography
Around 174 children go missing every day;
Only about 50% of them are ever found again
The Hindu, 2018.
A narrative photograph demands interpretation.
It makes you stop and think.
Narrative Photography
It is a broad category which encompass
many other genres of photography;
and each one has its own distinction too.
•
News photography
•
Editorial photography
•
•
•
•
Documentary photography
Street photography
Wildlife photography
And more
Narrative Photography
Considering the method of capturing the image narrative photography could be
seen as:
Editorial Photography
Creative Photography
staged. These are mainly for news
narrative photography. Examples are
Here pictures are never ‘set up’ or
magazines, newspapers, and wire
services. The photographer is a fly on
the wall, only capture scenes unfolding
in front of you. Editing these images
would mean cropping, adjusting
brightness and contrast, white balance,
saturation, and sharpness.
Creative here means ‘created’ or staged
Portraiture, studio work, corporate
photography, etc. Here one has
complete control of the situation. Can
manipulate the light, the setting, and
the subject to create an image that one
wants. Here post production has no
limits.
Narrative Photography - Editorial Photography
By Yan Zhang, China
Narrative Photography - Creative Photography
Creative Photography by Gregory Crewdson, US
Narrative Photography - Creative Photography
Working with a large team,
Crewdson typically plans
each image with meticulous
attention to detail,
orchestrating light, color, and
production design to create
dreamlike photographs.
Photographic Tools
The use of creative controls such as:
•
Composition
•
Colour
•
•
Light
Contrast
•
Depth of Field
•
Emphasis
•
•
Proportion
Subtext
Will decide the narrativity of photographs.
Photographic Tools
Narrativity refers to the processes by which a story is both presented by the
storyteller, and interpreted by the viewer..
Narrative Photography - Composistion
These considerations are tools that you can use to consciously craft an image that
tells the story that you want to tell.
Narrative Photography - Composistion
The use of creative controls such as:
•
Choice of subject
•
Choice of background
•
Placement of the subject
•
Camera angle
•
Shot size
•
Focalization
Composistions - from Steve McCurry
Rule of Thirds
Place points of interest on the intersections and important elements along
the lines.
Composistions - from Steve McCurry
Leading Lines
Use natural lines to lead eyes into the picture.
Composistions - from Steve McCurry
Framing
Use natural frames like windows and doors. Frame within
a frame.
Composistions - from Steve McCurry
Composistions - from Steve McCurry
Diaogonals
Diagonal lines create a sense of movement and dynamism
Composistions - from Steve McCurry
Composistions - from Steve McCurry
Depth of Field
How much of the
visual field is in clear
focus.
Images in Deep DoF
Have better
believability.
Composistions - from Steve McCurry
Composistions - from Steve McCurry
Figure and Ground
Background enhances the foreground
Composistions - from Steve McCurry
Fill the Frame
Get closer to your subjects
Composistions - from Steve McCurry
Center Dominant Eye
Place the dominant eye in the center of the photo
Composistions - from Steve McCurry
Patterns and Repetition
Patterns are aesthetically pleasing, but the best is when
the pattern is interrupted
Lighting - in Narrative Photography
Direction, Intensity, Contrast, Hardness and Colour.
Be on the right side of light.
Lighting - in Narrative Photography
Let the light filter in.
Choose a location where
the sun can be filtered
through an object such as
a curtains, blinds, tree, etc
Lighting - in Narrative Photography
Lighting - in Narrative Photography
Anticipate
Light is a fleeting reality. So anticipate. Be on the right side of life.
Lighting - in Narrative Photography
Lighting - Practical Lighting
Practical Lighting
Actual working light that is in a scene. For example, light in the
middle of a group of people gives a strong unifying meaning.
Lighting - Low Key Lighting
Low key Lighting
Low key lighting is a photography and cinematography technique that uses minimal
light to create high contrast between light and shadow, resulting in a dramatic and
moody atmosphere.
Lighting - Colour
Be colour Conscious
Neutral Colours do not reflect any particular emotions. These colours include gray,
brown, white, and black.
Lighting - Colour
Be colour Conscious
Warm colours are yellow, orange, and red. These colours are said to reflect feelings
such as passion, power, happiness, and energy.
Lighting - Colour
Be colour Conscious
Cool colours are green, blue, and purple. Cool colours are said to reflect calmness,
meditation, and soothing impressions
Lighting - Colour Expressivity
Colour for narrative expression
Warm colours have energy and passion. Protesters use slingshots and other homemade
weapons in a clash with security forces in Yangon, Myanmar.
--- World Press Photo Award 2022.
Lighting - Colour Expressivity
Colour for narrative expression
Cool colours reflect calmness, meditation, and soothing impressions
Lighting - Colour Expressivity
Colour for narrative expression
Cool colours reflect calmness, meditation, and soothing impressions
Anaeis Gevorkian
Lighting - Colour Expressivity
Colour for narrative expression
Black and white photography uses varying shades of neutral grey instead of the actual
colors of the objects photographed.
Photo by Sebastiāo Salgado
Lighting - Colour Expressivity
Colour for narrative expression
Black and white photography creates drama and mood; and the contrast between the
blacks, grays, and whites gives photographs a very strong feel.
Lighting - Colour Expressivity
Colour for narrative expression
Black and white photography can evoke mood – from nostalgia to sadness to yearning,
black and white pictures convey emotion that colour images may not
Lighting - Colour Expressivity
Colour for narrative expression
Black and white photography we are forced to focus on the story of an image without
being distracted by colour.
Lighting - Colour Expressivity
Colour for narrative expression
Black and white images are not direct renditions of their subjects, but are abstractions
from reality, representing colours in shades of grey.
Lighting - Colour Expressivity
Photographer Sebastião Salgado
Lighting - Sebastião Salgado
Lighting - Sebastião Salgado
Lighting - Colour Expressivity
Riders by Thierry Lagnel
Lighting - Colour Expressivity
Morning deluge by Gonçalo Lobo Pinheiro
Lighting - Colour Expressivity
Lift Me Up by Thibault Gerbaldi
Lighting - Colour Expressivity
Joy by Axel Görlach
Lighting - Colour Expressivity
Monochrome photography
Monochromatic colours are all of the hues of one colour.
Lighting - Colour Expressivity
Panayiota Kritsiopi
cries out as a wildfire
approaches her house
in the village of Gouves,
on the island of Evia,
Greece, on 8 August 2021
World Press Photo
Award 2022
Lighting - Colour Expressivity
Monochrome photography
Monochrome creates harmony, because it is just one colour.
Lighting - Colour Expressivity
Monochrome photography
Monochrome photography is not a realistic representation of the world. But it is artful
and dramatic in emphasising shapes, textures, and tone, empowering the composition.
Lighting - Colour Expressivity
Monochrome photography
This takes away distractions and helps keep the viewer’s attention on what the
photographer wants to communicate with the image.
Lighting - Colour Expressivity
Contrast
Palestinian Children in Gaza by Fatima Shbair.
World Press Photo Award 2022.
Lighting - Colour Expressivity
Contrast
Contrast in Background and Foreground, Lighting, Colour, Emotion.
Lighting - Colour Expressivity
Contrast
Contrast in
Background and
Foreground,
Lighting, Colour,
Emotion.
Lighting - Colour Expressivity
Lighting - Colour Expressivity
Lighting - Colour Expressivity
Lighting - Colour Expressivity
Magic Hour
Contrast in Background and Foreground, Pink and Teal hues.
Anaeis Gevorkian
Lighting - Colour Expressivity
Magic Hour
The Magic Hour In Acadia National Park
-Mircea Costina
Lighting - Depth of Field
Depth of Field
Depth of Field is the standard for news photography and documentary photography.
Because it hides nothing, and thus the sense of trust is more.
Narrative Photography - Emphasis
The use of creative controls such as:
Emphasis draws viewers into your image and holds them there long
enough to tell your story. It adds visual weightage to your main subject
and tells viewers what to focus on.
Narrative Photography - Emphasis
Shine a light on subject
•
Camera angle - low angle
•
Distance - maintain space from other
•
Depth of Field - shallow depth of field
elements
•
Contrast - colour and light
•
Leading lines - to where viewer’s eyes
•
Minimalism - uncluttered images
are lead to
•
Proportion - amount of space subject
occupies
Narrative Photography - Proportion & Scale
Sebastiāo Salgado
The relative size of subjects in a frame
Narrative Photography - Subtext
Text of the photograph: What we
see. What strikes us first in this
photograph is how the light plays on
each polished surface, the handrail,
and the reflection of the steps on the
glossy wall.
Subtext: Then we notice that the
surface of each stair is curving; worn
out by the footsteps of those walked
Prison Staircase, Auschwitz
by Simon Norfolk
Narrative Photography - Subtext
on them for years. And we remember
those walked were heading towards
their deaths in the gas chambers at
Auschwitz.
According Roland Barthes, subtext
is the detail of a photograph that
reveals something deeper. The detail,
as expressed by Barthes, ‘rises
from the scene’ with a force that it
suddenly seem like a new photograph.
Narrative Photography - Subtext
The photograph of a postman
delivering a parcel becomes
insignificant once we notice smoke
and flames rising from the World
Trade Center, in New York City, USA.
The subtext rises from the details of
the scene. Once seen we cannot not
see it, because it connects to you
powerfully.
September 11th
by Melanie Einzig 2021.
Narrative Photography - Subtext
We start seeing more than a man’s face
once we know the context of his sadness,
defiance and soulful contemplation. Che
Guevara was at the funeral of the Cuban
workers killed in an anti-communist
bombing. This image of him became
popular in 1967 when Che Guevara was
killed by government troops in Bolivia.
This image has a deeper connection with
people. Political parties have used this
face of Che Guevara to recreate the same
sense in people. A subtext rises from the
scene.
Che Guevara
Alberto Korda
1960
Narrative Photography - Subtext (Cultural)
Every winter, between
Christmas and New Year
in north-eastern Romania,
the annual Dance of the
Bears takes place. These
are meant to drive away
evil spirits and welcome the
new year.
Chasing Spirits
- Mauro De Bettio
Narrative Photography - Subtext (Gender / Feminist)
Her work presents intimate
relationships, mostly
between young women.
Here to Heal
- Alice Joiner
Narrative Photography - Subtext (Social /Marxian)
Workers
-Sebastiāo Salgado
Narrative Photography - Subtext (Other Categories)
•
Political
•
Religious
•
Ecological
•
Psychological
•
And more.