What story does these tell to you?

[tirediron]

So it's not wrong to change the story?

You're the artist... YOU decide what is right and what is wrong.

 

[otherprof]

I haven't taken a self portrait depicting emotion in quite some time. I thought this would be something different than my typical photos.

I wanted to create a series of photos that represents sort of how I feel lately as I struggle with depression and the negative side effects of being addicted to social media but they don't tell the story I wanted. I've never been good at trying to tell stories with photography. Does that mean I'm not a photographer? I'm confused.

Anyways, I wanted to share them. Use your own imagination on what these photos mean to you, because I don't know what they mean to me now. So I'm kind of wondering when you look at these series of images, what story do they tell? I'd like to know.

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I admire your work as a photographer. Why must a photo tell a story? Think of all the great nature photography on this site. And I don’t admire Andes Adams for the stories his images told. I hope you won’t be critical of your work because it doesn’t meet one of the many goals of photography. When it comes to photos telling stories, the first law of sociology applies: some do; some don’t.

All photos tell a story ... photography is a form of communication, similar to the written word. Even photos whose intent is not to tell a story ... tells a story.

I don’t disagree. Every photo tells a story as an artifact. The way ancient pottery tells a story even when there is nothing narrative about it - e.g. just geometric design. But not every photo is meant to tell a story, and I am aware of when I am trying to tell a story with a photo.

 

[Gary A.]

I'm not sure what I'd do to make it social media centric, but it might possibly involve a meal in front of you with you taking pictures of the food, a selfie of you and the food, and then finally getting frustrated and just eating the food and crying? Although, that's probably a bit cliche at this point...

I was trying to figure this out too, and I'm a bit unsure, mostly because I'm a NOT a social-media guy in any sense of the word, but a few things strike me: (1) It should be in colour; (2) it should involve multiple devices, but NOT computers/laptops; and (3) something important (children, family, business, etc) needs to be seen to be put clearly to the side as you deal with a "social media crisis. Or... how about setting up in a "crashed" car, staged accident, blood, etc but still on your 'phone?

I really like this mono series, but it to me it's a classic portrayal of the over-worked employee rather than social media addiction. You told a story, but not the story you mean to tell, so... you can either (a) re-stage and re-shoot to tell the story you mean to; or (b) go with the new story.

So it's not wrong to change the story?

Just like writing ... when you're working on a fictional story, you have carte blanc. When reporting a news story. you gotta stick to the facts.