How to Create a Story with your Photos

Photographic stories are one of the most powerful ways of making your photos interesting, giving them impact and conveying your emotions.

By giving meaning to your photos, you will :

• captivate your audience,
• set yourself apart from other photographers,
• create a genuine photographic approach.

This is not an exhaustive article on all possible methods. The important thing is to understand the main principles.

Then you can develop your own method.

Knowing how to create a story with photos just means being able to create interesting photos that have meaning and impact.

If this story interests you, just take a few minutes of your precious time.

You'll never shoot in the same way again.

In this article, I'm going to share the main principles of creating photographic stories. I'll also suggest two practical methods.

Defining a Story

One of the definitions of the word history is as follows:

A story is a narrative about real or imaginary events or characters that obey no fixed rules.

The story is what is happening or has happened or could happen. It is the narrative.

The Power of Stories for the Human Race

Humans are the only species capable of talking about things that don't exist. That's how, with Jules Vernes, we ended up going to the moon or in a submarine.

The power of stories knows no bounds. It guides the human race.

Stories are the most powerful tool for influencing others and guiding many people in the direction you want them to go.

It's not the best idea that wins. Nor is it the right answer. It's always the best story that wins.

In all areas of society - politics, religion, product sales, culture, education - it's always the best story that wins.

Good storytelling creates perception.

Perception sets the stage for expectations.

People see or taste what they expect.

They buy the story.

Stories feed expectations.

Expectations inform our minds.

Our spirit manifests itself.

Recounting the process of creating a photo shows that we're interested in what we've done; in the product we've created.

People feel involved without the pursuit of excellence.

How you do one thing tells me how you do everything.
Jim Rohn.

The world is not guided by facts, valid reasons or logic. But it isn't. That's not how humans think. The world is guided by the fictions that propagate. We are the only species to act in this way.

The human species is the only species that can create stories and spread them. We are the only ones who can cooperate with strangers because we know how to tell stories. We can invent fictions, share them and spread them to other human beings.

90% of human communication is based on stories.

Human beings are capable of telling stories about things that don't exist. As long as people believe in the same fictions, created with the same rules, then they can cooperate effectively.

For example, money is a story created by human beings. These little sheets of paper are nothing but fictions. You can buy bread or meat. As long as everyone believes in the story, it works.

From the moment people know how to tell stories to others, they can influence others, change the world, shape culture. All these stories become history.

The whole history of mankind is a complex network of stories we've told each other.  Storytelling is the essence of our survival and prosperity.

Nations exist only in our imagination. All nations were built and continue to exist because they are stories. Borders and cultural identities are only fictions. Humans have created stories that have been perpetuated.

Sports are just stories. Take soccer, for example. It's just a story with rules that everyone accepts. That's why the game exists and survives. The Olympic Games are just stories. Capitalism, religion and fascism are just stories to which people adhere. The same goes for laws and justice.

These are just fictions and stories that we adhere to and believe in.

That's why the best story always wins.

When a President of the Republic gets elected, it's not his CV that wins him over his competitors. It's just that he has a better story to tell.

Good ideas, badly told, go nowhere. They never win.

Take Apple, for example. Steve Jobs didn't invent anything. He just took existing ideas and ran with them. He told them well. He spent hundreds of hours preparing his meetings with the public to present his products. No need for special effects. He was able to influence others with stories.

The conclusion of this paragraph is that there's no need to create new things to change the world. You just have to tell it in a different way.

Today's world is bombarded by information that doesn't add up to anything. It's just what we call media noise. Learn to tell new stories. Tell new stories in your photos that make others want to listen.

If you create photos that are just descriptions or facts and don't tell a story, they won't be interesting and will remain invisible.

A good story wins over others, influences them and makes a difference.

Stories have the power to heal in many cases. They make food and wine taste better. Stories increase the value of artistic works.

Most of the things we experience are the result of stories. It has been proven that people who take treatment and listen to positive things heal.

In 2001, some people underwent knee surgery. Everyone was in a lot of pain. Half the patients undergo surgery. The other half, just an incision in the knee to show the operation. 100% of patients felt better, even those who had not received the prosthesis.

Let's take the example of a good dish. If we hear good stories about this dish, we create expectations. These expectations inform our mind. Our mind manifests itself as contentment.

Nike shoes don't make you jump higher or farther. It's the stories that make us think so.

Essential oils don't make us feel better. Stories do.

Apple products don't make you cooler. Stories do.

Stories Describe What We Have Stored in Our Memory