A Photojournalist’s Field Guide: In the trenches with combat photographer Stacy Pearsall

Several Story Approaches

Although telling the story in a single image has its merits, there are benefits to using multiple pictures together to better illustrate the story. By using several images of a common theme, you can construct a coherent narrative. Just like other photojournalism assignments, photo stories should be unrehearsed, spontaneous, and unscripted. By unscripted I mean the photographer should not influence the subject to act out a situation for the betterment of the story—if it happens, it happens, and if it doesn’t, tough. Picture stories should capture images that relay the often-complex human experience and delve deeper into the nature of human society. They should offer a “fly-on-the-wall” perspective.

You can capture a story ...