The “Visuals” in Visual Narratives

Photographs can be compelling tools for storytelling, incorporating concepts and skills from the traditions of the visual arts.

The big questions to think about during this lesson include:

• How are principles of visual art and design applied in photography?
• How can photography tell a story?
• Does a photographer need a sequence of images to tell a story?
• Can a single image tell a story?
• Can the same image tell a different story? (Can a single image tell multiple different stories?)

Look at the image shown here, created by Alexander Cook, a photographer from the Unshuttered teen program. Don't worry about the caption for now. What do you notice about the photograph?

Using the photograph, identify how perspective, composition, scale, light, and type of portrait are at play in this photograph. For an explanation of any of the elements, refer to the Unshuttered Skills videos.

Questions for Discussion:

• What do you notice first about this image?
• How might you describe the subject of this photograph?
• Perspective: What is the photographer’s literal point of view? How does their perspective work to make the image more or less dramatic?
• Scale: Is this a close-up or a long shot? Why do you think the photographer chose the scale used?
• Composition and Framing: How is the subject framed? What elements are emphasized by the framing? How was the photograph composed to balance or unbalance the elements in the image?
• Foreground/Background: What is in the foreground and background of the photograph? How does the lack of depth and detail affect your attention?
• Patterns: Are there any significant repeated patterns in the composition? What do they call your attention to or distract from?
• Leading Lines: Do you notice any leading lines that lead your eye through the image?
• Lighting: Does the photograph use natural or artificial light? What atmosphere is conveyed with the light used here?
• Portrait Style: What do you think the photographer’s relationship to the subject is? Was this portrait taken candidly, or was it planned? Does the photographer have something to say about the subject’s identity?

Once you have fully explored the visual elements of the photograph, answer the following:

• What story do you think the photographer is telling?
• What questions does the photograph pose for you?

With photography skills and elements in mind, we can use these to construct or suggest a narrative. In this photograph from the Getty collection, the Surrealist artist Salvador Dalí is shown mid-air in a dream-like image.

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Refresh your knowledge about Surrealism by answering the following questions. Use the summary of the Surrealist movement provided below in the Further Context section for help.

Questions for Discussion:

• What were the origins of Surrealism?
• What were the goals of the movement?
• Who are some of the well-known leaders of the movement?

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Next, look at the image shown above. Or view the image on getty.edu. Read the caption to learn more about the photograph.

Begin by taking a few quiet minutes to simply look at the photograph and consider the answers to these questions:

• What photographic techniques are at play here?
• Is this photograph in the Surrealist tradition?
• What story is the artist telling, and how?

Then, as a group, use the following questions to discuss the image.

Questions for Discussion:

• What do you notice first about this image?
• How might you describe the subject of the photograph?
• What is the subject doing? Is this a portrait?
• How would you describe the setting? What are the other objects in the photograph? What is in the background? The foreground?
• What do you know about when and where the image was created?
• What choices did the photographer make about framing the photograph?
• How do you think the photograph was made?
• Perspective: Where do you think the photographer stood to take the photograph? Why that angle?
• Composition: How do the different elements relate to each other?
• Leading lines: What edges or visual elements point the viewer’s eye to the subject?
• Focus: Are any parts of this picture out of focus? How does the sharp focus affect the mood?
• Lighting: How is the photography lit? Is it filtered or sharp? Natural or artificial? How does the light contribute to the “surrealism” of the photograph?
• How do you feel when you look at this photograph? How do you think the photographer wanted you to feel looking at this photograph?
• What story do you think the photographer is telling?
• What questions does the photograph pose for you?

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Further Context:

Surrealism began in Paris in the 1920s, as both an artistic and literary movement. Surrealist paintings and art often included dream-like scenes, distorted objects, symbolic images, and unusual juxtapositions. Following the brutality of WWI, artists eschewed logic in favor of fanciful imaginative explorations of the subconscious. Its goal was to free thought, language, and human experience from the oppression of rationalism. Influenced by Dada, Marxism, and Freud’s idea of the unconscious, its focus on dreams and fantastic images spread throughout Europe and the Americas along with artists fleeing WWII. Leaders of the movement included Andre Bréton, Salvador Dalí, René Magritte, Joan Miró, Jean Cocteau, and Frida Kahlo [2].

The artist Salvador Dalí is the subject of the photograph. He and Halsman had a decades-long creative relationship. Dalí is jumping, which was the idea of Halsman, who coined the term “jumpology.” He asked many of his subjects to jump, explaining, “When you ask a person to jump, his attention is mostly directed toward the act of jumping and the mask falls so that the real person appears”. [3] Halsman wanted a portrait of Dalí that showed a moment suspended in time. For the photo shoot, he used a neutral background to turn the focus to the subject and the foreground objects, which are included to emphasize the idea of suspension. Thin wires suspend Dalí’s easel, stool and the painting Leda Atomica in the air. An assistant held up the chair at left, while other assistants threw three cats and a bucket of water in the air as Dalí jumped. Twenty-six takes were required to perfect the position of the water and the cats, which draw the viewer’s eye to the subject. [4]

View Philippe Halsman photographs in the Getty collection and learn about the artist.

In contrast to the single Halsman image previously discussed, this exercise looks at a sequence of photographs from artist Duane Michals.

Look at the images shown here. Or view the images on getty.edu. Read the caption to learn more about the photograph.

Share the Visual Sequences handout, available below in “Resources.” Choose to work individually or in a group. Look closely at the images and discuss the questions posed on the handout. We will come back together to share your conclusions and discuss the results of your inquiry.

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Further Context:

Duane Michals is influenced, in part, by the Surrealist movement. His work rejects the idea that a single image should carry a full story. Instead he uses photographic sequences, with no obvious central image. Alice’s Mirror pays homage to Lewis Carroll’s Alice in Wonderland, featuring seemingly huge eyeglasses and mirrors within mirrors. [5]

View Duane Michals photographs in the Getty collection and learn more about the artist.

Choose three photography skills from the Unshuttered Skills videos, such as framing, composition, perspective, background, scale, proportion, or lighting. Create photographs that demonstrate the chosen skills and work in a sequence to tell a story.

To reflect, we will have a group critique. You will share your visual sequences with your peers. You can use this time to speak about your intention with the photo(s). As a viewer of your peers' work, you will provide positive feedback. Sharing can be a vulnerable moment for you, so support each other to create a brave space.

Questions for group critique:

• What is the first thing you notice about the photographs?
• What skills do you observe in the photographs?
• What do you feel looking at the photographs?
• What stories is the photographer telling?

Questions for individual reflection or artist’s statement:

• What did you discover about yourself and others during the project?
• What was challenging about taking the photo, and why?
• What detail are you most proud of, and why?
• Is there anything you would do differently?