Using Secondary Objects to tell a Story

The subject of a photograph is what it's about but sometimes it helps to add context. Adding context in the form of secondary objects help in photographic story telling. In fact the more careful you select the contents of your frame the more precise a story you can tell and the more layering and complexity you can add to the story. Assignment 7 or what I try to label as A7 is about using secondary objects to tell a story. This is helpful to both attract attention as well as hold it because it forces your audience to pause, think and take in the details.


I think this is one of Ming Thein's strong points in photography. Look at his work and you will seldom (in fact very seldom) see a super bokehlicious photo. If you do it's most likely a bokeh test from a review he is doing. Almost all his photographs use secondary objects or more to tell what it's about. It's not just the subject but the supporting cast as well. Photography in a lot of ways is about story telling anyway. For me the more your photograph can tell or can communicate to the viewer the better. But of course, it should all relate to the story you are trying tell or else it might become too much and take away from the interestingness factor. Sometimes it's all about being simple but precise with what we want to include in the frame. This is why it is critical to think before pressing the shutter.

I'm moving on to A8 which is about using colour to create mood. My email school is quite near the end but it's all good. I cannot believe how much I've learned simply through email interaction. I think it is a good format for those who cannot attend Ming's workshops. In addition to the Email School he now sells video tutorials and it was filmed (I believe) during one of his workshops so it is pretty much the same thing as a workshop, except you don't get the real life and face to face interaction if you attend his workshops.