Critical us. the notion of narrative photography has

Criticalevaluation Name- Surbhi JainStudent ID- jai12373152Tutor- Paul BevanCourse- MA FashionPhotographyYear of study- 2017-2018 Reading the narrative in photographyPhotography is narrating theworld around us, by telling visual stories. Narrative being something largerthan photography itself, narrative stories have always been a powerful mode fortransmitting information and we can learn as much from them as we can learnfrom, history, anthropology and literary theory. As narratives have the powerof engaging people with emotions, the narrative is so closely intertwined withour identity that it has always fascinated critics and theorists to a betterunderstanding to the world around us.

The notion of narrative photography hasalways overrun us that photographs can be used to tell a story. Some would saythat the essence of all photography is in the power of the narrative, as forothers would disagree and say that photography is a temporary medium. That iswhy it is important to decide the narrative and the notion of the narrativewhile discussing this subject. A narrative is an account ofconnected events, and We have to reflect upon what is constituted as an eventin the first place. As Allen Feldman has stated “ the event is not what happens. The event is that which can be narrated” (Feldman Allan, p.

14). The idea ofcontext is related to narrative in photography. Narrative will always be theproduct of including some materials and excluding others. This Inclusion and exclusionof materials is part of what construction is all about, but understandingcontext helps us to know what should be best included and excluded. A narrativeconstructs the very events it connects, and this is an important relationshipof narrative with time. The camera freezes theinstant.  The ability to be a narrativehighly depends upon the information with which we are provided to suggestsomething, or to reveal something we are not provided with in a photograph. Theclash of interpretations is inescapable, when we recognize narrative as aconstruction.

It is not unusual for an image to imply a story or a story he/shealready knows. In this way, the viewer can draw upon the story he or shealready knows and associate with it, as it depicts a moment of time larger thanthe story being said. This is kind of photography purposefully created with aidea of narrative in mind is called staged narrative photography. Onephotographer famous for this approach is Gregory Crewdson. Edward Muybridge, who created many sequence photographs, provided narrative’s demand for sequenceof photographs. Photographer Duane Michal’s created many captivating photoseries on the concepts of love, death, time, desire, after life etc.

The photographer must focuson the strategic and the narrative discursive when capturing a story, signaledby elements such as action, expressive language details that convey emotionsand a theme and characters are developed. Usually it starts of with an approachto a story, a conflict takes place and an effort is made to explain itvisually, and then we see that an outcome is developed. In conclusion, howevervague it might seem sometimes, I think it is not a stretch to say that allphotographs allude to some sort of story at some point.