As I have pursued photography and improved my skills the question that I have frequently asked myself is "what type of photography do I like to do?". Many "wise" individuals advise specialization to be able to hone your skills. But I could never decide...I do like landscapes, but I also like macro and portraits. And I find street photography intriguing. As some of you know, in the past at the beginning of the year I would choose a generalized photo focus for the year sometimes even maintaining the focus through mid-year ;). This year I have struggled. But in the back of my mind I think I always knew what is most important - story telling. I want to be a story telling photographer. Several image related events have recently brought that realization to my consciousness. This will be a year when I attempt to get better at story telling.
This Dorothea Lange iconic image is my all time favorite picture, primarily due to the story revealed to me. Of course, I realize much of the story is supplied by my own understandings and experiences but I challenge anyone to gaze up this image and not see a story. Recently, I photographed some local school children being assisted in skiing by the organization NEHSA (New England Handicapped Sports Association). I made some nice shots of the students skiing, but for me the most "telling" shots were the interactions between the students and the support staff from the school. An example is included here. Maybe others don't see a story but I do.
In January, just in time for my story telling journey, a new iPad app called Storehouse waslaunched aimed at visual story telling. We can not all be Dorothea Lange and have one image masterpiece stories. Sometimes we need multiple images and some text to tell our story. Here is a link to my story of the day photographing the school children on the ski mountain - Human Spirit Trumphs.