Documentary Photography

Footage that’s cinematic doesn’t just mean a nice LUT and some grain. It means knowing how to use light — and maybe trees. 

Non-photographers often complain about black and white images: they’re dated, they’re just a gimmick, or they’re elitist and boring. These are personal preferences; however, we live in a color world, so you can't discount that black and white images can create a disconnect for modern viewers. To bring history alive, is colorization a solution? 

A street photographer’s task is to observe the mundane human interactions that take place throughout the day and turn them into something worthy of being preserved and shared through photography. This is not an easy task. 

A frequent refrain among photographers is that the area around their home is just too boring to photograph. Here are a couple of ideas to help you find engaging and meaningful photographic projects in locations that feel completely uninspiring. 

The entire genre of time-lapse photography is a game of patience and preparation, but creating short films involving the life cycle of a  mushroom is on an entirely different level. When 24hrs worth of frames can equate to only a few seconds of footage there is not a lot of room for mistakes. 

We usually see a photograph as a solitary work, a passing moment in time captured to be examined on its own. However, creating a coherent story through a body of work can lift your photography up to a new level. 

If there is one type of news story that is a recurring theme in journalism it is the protest. Think "Tank Man", "The Burning Monk", or "Taking a Stand in Baton Rouge" (with Ieshia Evans). They stick in the memory, their iconographic status forming a peg from which we hang related memories. So why then are we more interested in riots as opposed to protests?

Instagram, in particular, is full of high-quality travel photography — there's no end to it. But if you want to tell a personal story from your adventuring or pique the interest of a commercial entity with the hope of landing a new photography client, then you need to be able to produce a cohesive set of images.  

Putting together a cohesive set of images that illustrate a grand narrative is not an easy process, especially for those of us who taken up photography and end up just shooting single shots for a portfolio and/or to sell prints. This video has some great tips for those who want to break out of that mold and start something a bit more substantial. 

You take photos, you write books, you're published in weekly and monthly newspapers and magazines, and travel the world with the sole purpose of... traveling. You sound like one of the early social media influencers of the 2010s who was "living the dream," constantly on the road, distributing a drip of photos and articles to the travel-enthused general public.

Vuhlandes is a film photographer based in Detroit, Michigan. In this video, he collaborates with cowgirl Brianna and her horse, Dapper Dan, to create images that meld Vuhlandes’ urban style with a distinctly nostalgic, yet new Americana. 

Two of the most important artists working as photographers in the second half of the twentieth century shaped our understanding of documentary image-making, largely through their photographs of cooling towers, coal bunkers, and water tanks. 

Rather than awarding $40,000 to a single photographer, this year’s W. Eugene Smith Grant in Humanistic Photography is doing something different: it will award five photographers each with $10,000. 

Renowned Scottish photographer, Rankin, has teamed up with Relate, the UK's largest relationship support provider, to help reduce the stigma related to later life sexuality. Shot with a stark black and white style, Rankin and Relate have produced something quite special. 

https://vimeo.com/539092953/f11a7c6955

There are many ways in which a photographer can tackle a particular project in order to create a set of images that complement each other. — from color to composition, the list is a long one. This photographer points out some interesting themes which have influenced how he approaches his projects.

Instead of running away from the recent volcanic eruption in Iceland, this photographer duo decided to rush towards it instead and capture some immense photographs. Situated near the west coast of Iceland, the Geldingadalsgos volcanic eruption started just a few days ago and marks what is likely to be the first volcanic eruption in the Reykjanes Peninsula for almost 800 years.

This video takes you through the process of piecing together a documentary or any video with a story. You'll see the workflow, how the edit is put in a workable space, and how you can recycle certain parts of the shots you captured to strengthen the narrative.  

One of the most important things about photography is that it records moments in time so they are never forgotten by future generations. It also provides evidence that things actually happened. These incredible images from last week's monster ocean swells in Hawaii show why photography is so important in documenting history.  

Drug and alcohol addiction often go hand in hand with art. Painting has Van Gogh and Pollock, poetry has Coleridge and Ginsburg, music has The Beatles and Jim Morrison, and novels have Burroughs and Welsh. I was, however, surprised by how little information I could find about photographers’ substance abuse. Where are the

Marc Silber, of Advancing Your Photography, sits down with three renowned photojournalists to talk about the stories behind some of their incredible images and how they approach their craft.  

With cityscapes, traffic trails, shadow puppets, pink bikes, and bat portraits, Jakarta seems to have such diverse stories for a travel and photography show.

The various versions of Tank Man are among the most iconic photographs of the 20th century, having a lasting impact on history to the point that the Chinese State banned the use of the word “Leica” on social media last year. In this short video, Magnum photographer Stuart Franklin discusses how his image came about, and the consequences of its publication. 

The Black Lives Matter movement is arguably one of the most significant political and social movements in US history. The photographers in this video sit down to share their thoughts on why photographing the BLM movement is important to them, personally, as well as for posterity. 

Two recent photographic projects focusing on sex workers stand in stark contrast to one another. One exploits them as a commodity, the other seeks to give them a voice. Why does the art world seem to value one so much more than the other? 

In the early hours of Friday morning U.K. time, Magnum took its entire archive offline. Later that day, it released a statement explaining that it was reviewing its practices following revelations about some of its photographs. Difficult questions still need to be answered and the sequence of events shows how, despite Magnum’s crisis management, they’re not going away. 

Are you ready for the new season of "Moments in Time?"  

Documentary photographer and former president of Magnum Photos Martin Parr has stepped down from his post as the Artistic Director of Bristol Photo Festival following complaints that he edited a racist photobook. 

For photographers, inspiration comes in many forms: some from abstract thoughts, some from life experiences. When inspiration isn't as forthcoming, it's helpful to look at those photographers who forged their own creative paths. 

Digital photography usurped film photography within the last two decades almost entirely. But there are still film and analog photographers who swear by their process. This mini-documentary explores their reasons. 

With the Black Lives Matters protests attempting to trigger a shift in attitudes towards race around the world, the role of black photographers in documenting the demonstrations is crucial, as outlined by this short video from PBS NewsHour. (Warning: This video contains graphic imagery.) 

With the wide theatrical release of "The Picture Of His Life" just a few days away, I thought it might be interesting to create a list of some of the best documentaries about photography and photographers ever made. What are your favorites? 

When your income disappears overnight, what do you do? Like many professional photographers during the lockdown, Tristan Poyser found himself suddenly out of work. He took a job at the Amazon warehouse, which led to a fascinating documentary project with unprecedented access to this notoriously secretive company.  

How do you photograph extremists without giving them the publicity they desperately crave? 

A few months ago, World Press Photo awarded 3rd prize in its Contemporary Issues category to an image taken by photojournalist Mark Peterson. It shows five white supremacists relaxing on a boat, smiling, making Nazi salutes, with one holding a flag emblazoned with a swastika.

As the narrator describes in the video, what's amazing is that prior to this, no human eyes have ever seen this piece of the ocean floor. I was immediately hooked by the immense beauty as soon as I saw the first creature.  

Jeff Rhode has the highly unusual role as a full-time hospital photographer. In this interview, he shares his heart-rending photographs of COVID-19 patients and the staff supporting them and talks about the experience of photographing history as it happens.  

Scientists are constantly capturing the devastating effects of environmental decline all over the world. However, doing so underwater has always proven to be a challenge. In the latest documentary binge watch, a team has successfully shown just how the world below the surface is declining at an advanced rate.  

If there's one thing that seasoned professional photographers love to do, it's to dispel ridiculous misconceptions and myths around the craft. Daniel Milnor is one of these people, and in this video, he crushes a few commonly held false beliefs within the wider photographic community. 

Like many photographers during this period of enforced isolation due to the global pandemic of COVID-19, Isaac Alvarez turned to video conferencing to continue creating. His #hearme project goes beyond simple portraiture, though, and creates a commentary both on the human experience, and on what it means to be a photographer. 

Strange times provoke strange projects. I’ve become somewhat obsessed with my neighbors’ doors in our tiny French village. It's far from groundbreaking, but it's proving a lot of fun. 

This photo series reveals how easily it is for the media to manipulate perspective with different lenses, in particular when reporting on social distancing during the current pandemic. By placing images side-by-side, the pictures show how, with the right angles, people respecting the rules can be made to appear as if huddled together.

To be a great travel photographer it requires more than just the ability to capture pretty photo — in fact, sometimes the photos don't have to be pretty at all. This is a long video, so grab a coffee/tea/beer, and prepare to absorb some quality knowledge from a professional travel and documentary photography.

It's not very often that I watch a video online and react by literally gasping and audibly saying "wow." Watching Captain America stare down Thanos and his whole army, in an IMAX cinema, on a huge screen, was the last time I reacted in such a way. This time, even without the huge screen, resolution, and quality, this video is simply incredible. 

There are places that no one would have ever expected to see as empty but COVID-19 has really proven that even the busiest places on Earth can be turned into a ghost town.

 These photos taken by Filipino-Japanese photographer, Akira Harigae documenting life in a COVID19-hit Tokyo.

For some people, the magnitude of this pandemic doesn't seem all too real. Unfortunately, these photos prove otherwise.  

We might feel confined during the pandemic, but it does not compare to the dark realities of those locked up in forgotten prisons. After 40 years of media shut-out, we get to visually experience the life in prison in Brazil thanks to the "Locked Up" project. 

Photography has always played an important role in raising awareness of social injustice issues, including poverty, homelessness, and famine. However, media reports from the Indian state of Rajasthan claim that its government has laid out a rule for photographers: no further documenting food distribution to the poor.

Death photography was, at one time, a popular way of preserving a memory of a loved one who has passed. This video discusses the history of it, and suggests that it can still play a role in modern society as a way to cope with grief. 

New York is the city that never sleeps. It’s a city that’s famous for it’s bustling streets and the weird and wonderful community that populate it. It’s a hub of activity, or at least it was until lockdown. 

Isolation can be catching up to many of us during this time. While some artists are in colder climates, others are in humid areas, but both are experiencing cabin fever. Photography Benjamin Lee takes us on a little photography journey to make us feel as if we are on the outside doing what we do best: photographing life.  

For eight years, photographer Pete Souza had my dream job, photographing the president of the United States and being on the front line of the biggest news stories of our time. In his latest IGTV post, Souza talks about some of the gear he used to capture his iconic images.