This is really part two of a series on bringing narrative into your photography. In the first part, I looked at the human behaviors that drive us toward, away or against others and how those can translate into relatable gestures, relationships and attitudes that infuse narrative into your photography. As I mentioned in the article, there are other techniques. Here we will go through the legendary story arc structures that drive nearly every story ever told. But because we are focused on the single image, not a series of images, it’s important to see how these story arcs can work in a single scene. Other media has the luxury of being able to string together multiple scenes to tell a story, but in photography, we often must do with one. Bringing narrative into a single scene means digging a little deeper. And here is where it is helpful to get into the real purpose of storytelling, by addressing the underlying themes of storytelling that fuel narratives of all kinds.
It comes down to three ultimate narrative themes:
Human Against Another Human
The classic Western style of narrative pits a human against another human, a la Star Wars, Harry Potter or The Odyssey. Hero vs foe. In this kind of storytelling, a person fights against others. This story does not exist without something outside the person to overcome, and the battle becomes a test of character.
