Short documentary films have the power to reveal a unique story, inspire with insights and even motivate change in the brief duration. How easy or difficult it is to make one? In this post, we will discuss the steps involved in making a short social documentary film.
“The atmosphere was very strange.” Perhaps unsurprisingly, those are the choice words used by Zimbabwean photographer Jekesai Njikizana.
"Instant Dreams" is a feature-length film about Polaroid that explores the magic of this defunct format, the pioneer of instant imagery, and documents the search for the lost chemical formula.
The power of visual storytelling to create an impact in the real world is plentiful. Of late, there is this new format of social short films that are catching up and seeding change in its own ways. How strong is the impact that these short social documentary films make?
One photographer has begun capturing the moment that rats and mice born inside laboratories and used for testing are released to the outside world.
What we do in our free time is often connected to our innate passion. Such one random act of passion led us to launch a social documentary filmmaking brand. A lot of us, especially wedding photographers, have this bandwidth of free time where we are not shooting any weddings. In this off-season, do the things we do sum up to make a difference?
When I photograph events, I do my best to become a “fly on the wall.” I try to stay out of the way, to be unobtrusive, to not affect what’s happening around me and just document what I see.
Swedish Documentary Photographer and Filmmaker Pieter Ten Hoopen has a passion for photography that seems to grow much like his success in the industry. This success can be supported by a quick reference to his resume, which boast clients such as the New Yorker and New York Times Magazine and also by his status as a Nikon Ambassador.
San Francisco-based photographer Jeff Colhoun spent the last three summers in Mongolia documenting the activity of various environmental protection projects. The Genghis Khan nation is a huge country with a thin population of three million inhabitants spread out across a vast territory. The remoteness of the place is what made this assignment both appealing and challenging.
Although I now work in the commercial world, my passion started with documentary photography. I was, and still am, obsessed with Annie Leibowitz’s work with the Rolling Stones and I loved William Egglestone’s color observations of the mundane world he found himself in.
Gregory Nolan doesn’t just have old photos, he’s got an extensive look into the abrasive music scene of London’s 00s. He’s recently dusted off the old hard drives and brought the best of 100,000 photos to the public.
BBC America just released a jaw-dropping five-minute preview for their upcoming series, "Planet Earth: Blue Planet II." The footage is gorgeous, David Attenborough is narrating, and Radiohead and Hans Zimmer provide a sonic feast. Sit back and enjoy.
It started in the year 1900 with a trip to Montana to photograph the ritual Sun Dance of the Blackfoot Tribe, and ended with photographer Edward Curtis having photographed 100 Native American tribes, producing 2,200 photographs that would come to comprise a 20 volume anthology called "The North American Indian," bankrolled by investor J.P.
Jim Reed is a renowned extreme weather photographer who, in 1992, started a 30-year project on climate change. His day-to-day work includes tornadoes, blizzards, floods, and droughts - not to mention 19 hurricanes, including Katrina. Here's what he's discovered.
“It’s a photo that I wish didn’t exist but now that it does I want everyone to see it.” That is how the Wildlife Photographer of the Year finalist behind this photo describes his image, which illustrates the threat facing our seas.
Chris Jackson is the man behind the official photos of the Royal family, traveling the globe with William, Kate, and company to document their lives. And he's now revealed some of the details of his day-to-day schedule.
You probably know Canadian-born photographer and director Joey Lawrence for his beautifully lit commercial work and equally as impressive A-List celebrity portraits. In recent years Lawrence has shifted gears to document the Kurdish guerrilla organizations fighting against ISIS.
Chain smoking indoors, flashy attire, extravagant ceremonies, and not so extravagant living quarters is what photographer Peter van Agtmael captured during his time hanging out with members of the KKK.
Documentary photographer Molly Choma began working for Virgin America fresh out of college. Working as a flight attendant, Choma got an inside perspective on the lives of those who work in the sky. Working for Virgin throughout her twenties, Choma began bringing a camera with her on her shifts, documenting the lives of her fellow flight attendants.
When it comes to homes and designs like this, they need to be shown in a way that makes them unique. Emile Rafael from Nowness is by far one of the best at showing these homes and giving us a brief overview of why they are designed in such a way.
Rising photographers born into a family of considerable means and influence have received quite a bit of hate from social media, and often times without reason. No one truly knows what someone such as Brooklyn Beckham has gone through to get where he is. Perhaps his way up was just as complicated as anyone. Perhaps it was not, and he’s lucky to have the background and family he does.
Photographing wild animals in their natural environment is very rewarding and one of the most beautiful experiences that a nature photographer can live. Actually, that most photographers could live. Being face to face with a polar bear with nothing but a camera in between is both extraordinarily breathtaking and scary.
Photographs taken by intrepid photojournalists and documentary photographers have been informing the public and galvanizing people to take action on social issues for over one hundred years.
The inauguration of Donald Trump meant the end of Pete Souza’s position as official White House photographer. Stepping into his shoes, Shealah Craighead has spoken for the first time about the experience of shadowing President Trump.
Photographer Monica Jane Frisell has spent the last four months living out of a renovated 1988 Toyota Seabreeze, traveling across the United States with her scrappy terrier Lou and a Zone VI 4x5 camera for her project “Looking Forward/Portraits from an RV.” I caught up with her to talk about the project, life on the road, and the process of shooting large format film.
The best photographs and films don’t just bring beautiful visuals to the table. They also place story right at the center of their very make up.
Interviewing interesting people can be an awesome experience that when done right, will provide impactful insight to your next video project. When done wrong however, you may find yourself asking the client for a do-over or spending hours in the editing room cleaning up mistakes.
Lukasz Palka, a Polish travel photographer currently residing in Tokyo, embarked on a photo series aiming to document the more intricate details of such a gigantic metropolis. We chatted with him to find out more about his thought process throughout the project.
The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) has long warned tourists of “arrest and long-term detention.” Despite the threat, around 100,000 people visit the hermit kingdom annually. In 2016, Photographer Raphael Olivier was one of those people. Here we showcase some of his most surreal photos from the trip.
The trailer has me excited. Passionate artists opening up and taking the time to share their work with us. Five photographers, Keith Carter, Graciela Iturbide, David Brookover, Lourdes Grobet, and Pedro Meyer are interviewed, and the amazing part about it is that the whole series was funded by the photographic community.
Photography is one of the most powerful tools used in influencing and changing perspectives. All across social media are images that move the emotion range from tugging at heartstrings to enraging the senses. So when one photographer needed to convey the message of the threats to ocean life she turned to photography.
Perhaps no single photo is more symbolic of America’s troubles during the Great Depression than Dorothea Lange’s “Migrant Mother.” Depicting an itinerant farm worker, Florence Owens Thompson, and five of her children apparently in the grips of despair on the side of the road, this single image came to surmise an entire era. Of course, as photographers, we know that a single image can rare
Think about some great leaders that you know. Are they kind of an a-hole? Film Director Max Joseph noticed a trend in the industry where it seemed as though the more abrasive and cutthroat someone was, the more successful leader they were.
I was hired to shoot graduation photos for a client recently, a particular job that certain photographers may be at odds with accepting. Simply put, it’s one of those gigs that can be hard to get motivated for if it isn’t your style. As a working photographer however we must all make decisions with our career and in my case, work is work regardless of the genre.
As with every new product, Canon sponsors a number of projects to show the capabilities of their upcoming C200 cinema camera. Indeed, it has great features at its price level, but what is a great camera without a good example how it was used? The perfect film marriage is between a beautiful story, captivating visuals, and audio that ties it altogether.
I recently travelled to the local racetrack with my brother for an open track day and decided that while he was out riding, I would try to make a few portraits of the other attending riders. I spent plenty of time ahead of the trip planning lighting, gear, locations, and more. This is a step by step walkthrough of how I created this series of portraits.
Photography, since its inception, has always been used as a tool to document a moment in time that the photographer believes has value. From modern history's defining moments, like World War II or the speeches of Martin Luther King, to seemingly mundane family moments, photography has captured billions of such moments in human history that may never repeat.
When President Trump announced he would be skipping the White House Correspondents' Dinner to speak in Harrisburg, Pa., right in my backyard and on day 100 of his presidency, it was like the stars aligned. Among many avenues, I’m a stringer for a Harrisburg news journal, photographing politics and business news.
If you were old enough to remember the horrible scenes of the Los Angeles riots of 1992, the memory probably most burned into your mind is the ruthless beating of truck driver Reginald Denny. This last weekend marked the 25th anniversary of one of the ugliest domestic events in American history.
A war photographer managed to capture the final second of her life by photographing the moment a mortar bomb accidentally exploded.
Spc. Hilda Clayton, who was based in Afghanistan, was on photo duty as soldiers took part in live-fire training in Qaraghahi in July 2013 when suddenly a mortar went off.
Andrew Saladino, from The Royal Ocean Film Society, makes a serious point in his telling video essay. How were so many films lost, and who are the people working to bring movies back to life?
Can photography be more than just work? Can it be a calling? How do you know? And what if that calling coincides with a transformational period in world history and you are called upon to document every move? Lauren Greenfield’s new exhibition and book, “Generation Wealth” is a time capsule a quarter century in the making.
It's been 9 years since Australian photographer Alexander Khimushin left home to travel the world, and he's since been to over 80 countries. While many travelers prefer short-term sightseeing tours, Khimushin is a firm believer that off the beaten path is the only way of traveling. Meeting indigenous people all over the world was the most inspiring part of his journey.
Masses gathered around the country to march in support together for women's rights. While each had their own unique story, most of what was heard was from adults in response to the new administration.
In the lead image above can anyone mention who was inspired by Gaudi's rooftop sculptures in Hollywood? For first time travelers to Barcelona these are my five favorites photo spots. I am expecting many readers to add their best spots that are not on this list. Please make sure to Google pin your exact locations in your comments.
Today, B&H began a new web series, "Women of Influence," featuring women who are accomplished photographers and filmmakers, featuring interviews that explore their stories and feature their brilliant work.
Today marked the release of the first two episodes in the series, with new ones coming out every Wednesday (except April 12) through May 10.
Wildlife films have dramatically improved over the last few years. We can now use image stabilization and smaller camera rigs to get closer and make the visual experience more cinematic. These techniques are perfected by the wildlife film producers and help create stories to show the world like we've never seen it before.
In honor of Black History Month, Time Magazine has decided to honor 12 up-and-coming African-American artists. Hailing from across the country and across the creative spectrum, these artists put the word "diversity" into focus.
If you're trying to gain an edge in a competitive market, getting inspiration from places you might not normally look could really help. This new documentary series will expose you to some of the world's most creative minds in fields you may have never considered. As an added bonus, one of the episodes features famous photographer, Platon, and is worth a watch just for that alone.
How did technology make "Planet Earth" so much more cinematic? If we go back to how it was done back in the day and compare it to the technology we have today, it's quite a leap.