5 Tips for Telling Better Stories With Natalie Keyssar | Fstoppers
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Telling a story is more than taking pretty images. ⤴️
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Natalie is a Canon Explorer of Light who primarily practices in the world of photojournalism. Based out of Brooklyn, NY, her work focuses on the personal effects of political turmoil and conflict, youth culture, and migration. ⤴️
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How To Choose a Story ⤴️
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a lot of people overlook this important step by diving into a topic simply because it’s popular at the time or because photographers feel like it’s a story they are supposed to care about. ⤴️
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Instead, she says that choosing a story should be like falling in love. It should be a topic that drives you crazy with passion in either a good or bad way. ⤴️
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Because most photojournalistic stories are long-term endeavors, there are going to be easy days and hard days. ⤴️
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So the topic of the story needs to be something that drives you and motivates you enough to keep going in times of struggle. Otherwise, you could end up with a bunch of half-told stories that never get finished. ⤴️
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In the world of photojournalism, access is king. You could have a great idea for a story you want to tell, but if you don’t get access to the key players, the idea will never become a reality. ⤴️
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One of the easiest ways to connect with people is through shared interests. ⤴️
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trying to tell is something you are passionate about, simply sharing that passion with the potential subject can go a long way in gaining trust and access. ⤴️
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For situations where you may be passionate about telling a story that you may not know a lot about, simply asking someone to teach and mentor you about the topic while you document it could also be a good way of getting in. ⤴️
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it’s important to be open and transparent in what you are doing, why you are doing it, and where the images could be seen (more on ethics later). ⤴️
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Visual Style ⤴️
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your visual style can go a long way in defining how a situation or subject can be perceived by the viewer. ⤴️
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Where people of the high class are traditionally photographed with a lot of attention to the way they look, oftentimes with a team of people to make sure the details of every image are taken into account. ⤴️
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But just because you are photographing a person in struggle doesn’t mean you can’t photograph them to look powerful or to make sure you capture them in a flattering way. ⤴️
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Masalah etika?
New Media and Collaborative Approaches ⤴️
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possibilities of making a story more powerful by expanding that medium and making the process a more collaborative effort. ⤴️
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This intertwining of mediums not only helps tell a better story, but the collaboration with the subject can also go a long way in producing a more heartfelt and engaging story. ⤴️
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Obviously, this technique won’t apply to every story ⤴️
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Ethics and How To Protect The Community ⤴️
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This also ties into what was previously talked about when gaining access to a subject. If the story has any potential to cause the subject harm in any way, you would want to be upfront and honest from the start of the conversation about those possibilities. ⤴️
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the importance of this conversation being fluid and ongoing. ⤴️
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Maybe the story was initially talked about being published in a local paper, but after the initial publication, the publisher wants to make it a national story. Or maybe a publisher in another country wants to run the story. ⤴️
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These seemingly minor changes could have a drastic effect on your subject depending on their situation. ⤴️
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Conclusion ⤴️
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my biggest takeaway was to choose a story based on passion rather than popularity. I also learned a ton about the mindset of gaining access to a subject. ⤴️
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