Stories

I have always avoided photographing in the studio. A woman does not spend her life sitting or standing in front of a seamless white paper background. Although it makes my life more complicated, I prefer to take my camera out into the street… and places that are out of bounds for photographers have always had a special attraction for me.Helmut Newton

Stories are important. Understanding what story you want to tell informs everything when designing a visual. Without some sort of narrative any campaign is directionless. Sure there’s a need for visuals that are completely abstracted from a story but in my opinion they are secondary, nessesary only after a viewer has bought in and become interested in a story. Those abstracted visuals are for cataglogs, for people who’ve already decided they want a product and want to see it from all the angles.

What kind of story can you tell in a small bathroom with a clawfoot tub? The obvious comes to mind … Maybe a soft sensuous image with the tub filled with bubbles and a woman relaxed, bathing in it. Probably sometime in the morning hours with a soft day light feel. Maybe she’s reaching for that big soft white robe. That’s not the only story that can be told. The truth is sometimes the not so obvious stories in any given environment can be better. How about a story at night? How about not a bedroom story more of an out on the town story… Or after the night out on the town? What would that look like?

Great, those are the beginnings of a narrative that can be built on. It doesn’t end there though. Humans are amazing at taking in an immense amount of information and making connections when presented with a visual. What sort of mood prevails within that narrative? Expression, gesture, all of that needs to inform in the direction of the story you want to tell. Even minor variations help refine that story to be pitch perfect. One of the key elements that I think is critical is one that is not so obvious, in fact it’s exactly opposite of obvious — leaving room for the viewer’s immagination. Leaving some of the connections open for the audience to fill in the blanks. Leaven some of the questions unanswered.