How to tell your story effectively

Ishiuchi MiyakoMother’s

“She began to photograph her mother systematically and intimately in the last years of her life until 2000, when she died suddenly. Although their relationship had been strained, Ishiuchi was deeply affected. She proceeded to document her mother's possessions in order to come to terms with her death, and in an attempt to understand the bond between them.

After her husband was reported missing in World War II, Ishiuchi’s mother had earned her living as a truck driver. When she became pregnant by another man, her first husband suddenly reappeared. Divorce followed a week before Ishiuchi was born.

The objects documented tell the story of a fashionable and resilient woman; elegant close-ups of intimate personal effects- make up, hairbrushes and underwear that still bear the evidence of recent use, showing a life that was painful but not without beauty.”

Source: Michael Hoppen Gallery

Alec SothSleeping by the Mississippi

“The title, Sleeping by the Mississippi, alludes to the recurrence of beds, a symbol found throughout Soth's work. If anything at all, this is a group of images about place and their inhabitants. There is no story, per se, but rather a series of unconnected dots, placed before the viewer humbly and unapologetically. Soth's working method is meticulous and methodical, as dictated by the 8x10" view camera he uses, and this reflects an inner methodology based in quiet, steady human relationships, abundantly evident here.

Source: Photo-Eye Michael Hoppen Gallery

How to tell your story effectively

• While working on a project, don’t always depend on what one location has to offer; make a list of things you think should be in your series, figure out how to find them, then photograph them

• Stay focused on your subject matter, don’t sidetrack

• Photograph multiple manifestations of your subject, it willadd density to the series