NZPhotographer Issue 56, June 2022
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NZPhotographer Issue 56, June 2022

As of December 2022, NZPhotographer magazine is only available when you purchase an annual or monthly subscription via the NZP website. Find out more: www.nzphotographer.nz As of December 2022, NZPhotographer magazine is only available when you purchase an annual or monthly subscription via the NZP website. Find out more: www.nzphotographer.nz

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Developing a Story by Alan Blundell In the last article of this series, we will look at ‘Developing a Story’ – how to progress from taking single shots to thinking about building a body of work over a longer period, with several images, telling a story as part of a project. WHY A PROJECT Up to this point, the focus has been on trying to combine a huge number of attributes into that single image. Of course, it’s almost impossible to build all the elements above into one moment and crystalise them into a perfectly formed frame. So much is left unsaid at times - why was this happening, where, and how? There is a place to leave the viewer of your images to speculate, but what if you wanted to control the narrative and tell a more complete story about a particular subject or idea? This is where street photography can morph into more of a documentary project. PLANNING A PROJECT So, how does one go about setting up a project? My advice would be to choose something or someone that you are passionate about. In your mind, there should be a reason why you would want to share what you know, have discovered or are seeking to learn about a particular subject. Start by jotting down an outline using the following broad: • What attracts you to this? • Why do you feel the need to share? • How will you convey the story, feelings, and emotions attached to your idea? THE ENVIRONMENT Generally, a street or documentary project will have a setting and a subject. Remember, this isn’t like the spontaneous single shots you have been used to taking. Spend some time visiting the location before you start shooting for what might last anything from a whole day to several weeks. Look at all the details around the edges of your project or subject that help set the overall scene. Talk to any of the people that might feature in the project and ask them what they feel about the situation – this can provide valuable insights into how you might end up conveying the story. COPY I’ve found that writing, even small amounts of text that accompany my photos, to be hugely beneficial in helping to galvanise thinking about my work. My view is that even if you don’t publish the copy with the images, it’s worthwhile to make notes about your thinking – what motivated you to the subject as a whole, and what were the small details you chose to include in the group of images you shot. How did all of this thinking galvanise your project idea? CURATION Once you have taken as many shots as you feel are adequate to convey your story, print them off at postcard size and lay them out on a big table. Eliminate images that don’t ‘speak’ to you about the subject, and decide on a minimum number of really special images, as few as three and as many as a dozen, that take the viewer through a journey from start to finish. ELIZABETH’S KITCHEN I’ll briefly share a small project I completed a couple of years back. Just before COVID hit in 2019, I met 92-year-old Elizabeth struggling with her groceries at the top of some stairs leading down to her home in Kelburn. After giving her a hand and learning she was living alone, we exchanged details. We kept in touch during the lockdown, and I was able to help her with the odd shop, drop her off some books to read, and so on. It was a very challenging time for her. When the lockdown concluded in 2020, Elizabeth wanted to have my wife and me around for a cuppa to say thanks. I took my camera in the hope of her agreeing to a few shots in her meticulously kept kitchen. Although there wasn’t much time to plan and shoot this series, I entered the series of photos below in a competition and made the final. It was nice to be able to chat with Elizabeth in her environment and hear some of her stories of how she emigrated from the UK, her family, and life in NZ. 56 June 2022 NZPhotographer

Top: All original utensils, everything meticulously clean and placed in an orderly manner. This isn't staged, it's how the wall looked when we arrived for a cuppa – I couldn’t actually believe it! Bottom: Enjoying a cuppa at the generously round kitchen table with Elizabeth's custom-built airing cupboard in the background!

Top: All original utensils, everything meticulously clean<br />

and placed in an orderly manner. This isn't staged, it's how<br />

the wall looked when we arrived for a cuppa – I couldn’t<br />

actually believe it!<br />

Bottom: Enjoying a cuppa at the generously round<br />

kitchen table with Elizabeth's custom-built airing<br />

cupboard in the background!

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