My 2023 project is all about telling the story of the changing face of the farm at Buckhurst which is in the hills just above Walmersley in Bury. This project is ongoing and to help with the development of my story telling approach Chris Sale, who I get advice and support from, suggested undertaking a few smaller story projects in advance of the main story.
What, Where and Why
In the sessions I have with Chris Sale, who is coaching me, we have spoken about a simple approach to telling a story with images, this is the What, Where and Why approach. his effectively means that a story can be told in 3 images. I’m guessing if you’re skilled enough you can do it in one, but I’m a novice so 3 will do me.
The What in a story is the subject, what are you telling the story about. This can be anything really but in my early work on this its all about a thing, a monument, a a building, a structure, whatever you want. So the image should clearly show the subject and the viewer should be left in no doubt about what the subject is.
The Where in a story is some sense of location, this doesn’t need to be a precise GPS location but merely a sense of where the subject sits in relation to its surroundings. This can be a wider angle shot that shows more of the surroundings that the subject sits in.
The Why in a story should tell the viewer why the subject was build or placed in its location, along with the reasons why it was put there in the first place.If possible this should include some of the signage that is placed locally, and in some cases it can be on the subject itself.
What
Where
Why
Now this last image is not what I had planned when I decided to try out this story telling approach. This is the statue of Robert Peel in Bury town centre. There is any form of description of why the Peel Tower exists in the location on Holcombe Moor. So to finish this blog off here is the last image I took on Holcombe Moor.
So, this approach to story telling is in its basic format but I do think this works, and will be put to the test over the coming weeks and months.