What is a narrative?
A narrative is a story, in the case photography the word narrative is used to describe a photo story depicted in a singular or set of photographs.
Different ways to create a narrative:
Make it personal
Introduce a relationship – with another subject or place
Evidence the unseen – what else is going on?
Bring in the element of letting the viewer decide on what is happening.
Suspense/State of confusion
Context – what else is in the photograph?
Think about details – what props?
What location are you using – what does it say about what is happening in the image?
What do the other elements of the photo say about your subject?
Underlining theme – something that pulls the image together
Symbolism – colours or objects – these can pull the images together.
Semiotics – Signs and symbols
Costume – what they’re wearing says a lot about the story
Surrealism – The stranger the better
Juxtaposing different themes
Lighting
Creating a narrative is all about asking questions, what do I want to portray?, how am I going to implement my idea and convert it into a piece of art? Things to consider are:
Introducing the location
Where is your story set? E.g. The woods
What does the location say about the story? E.g. Woods = Fairytale
What is the issue or emotion?
What are you trying to say with the work that you’re doing?
Contextualising the story – remembering the details, setting for an event, statement or idea.
Have a structure, start, middle and end.
Storyboards are a good way of planning your ideas creatively
Image © Sophie Whale
What is my narrative?
This photograph was taken in Hurn forest, The story behind the girl in this image is that she is alone in the woods. Has she gone there to escape?, to think?, to hide? Who knows?.
To portray this, the model is wearing a hoodie, posing with her head down and has her hands placed over her ears, this makes it appear as though she is scared and trying to hide her identity. I have also decreased the saturation of the image in post production and upped the shadows. By doing this the overall appearance of the image is darker, contributing to the chill factor of this photograph.