Storytelling in Photography

So, here I am again! To talk about the art of storytelling and what makes a story unique. But this time, I have a personal example of a photoshoot that is filled with meaning and symbolism. And what’s even more important is that we ourselves consume are and the meanings they hold for ourselves. A story ALWAYS has multiple interpretations. Unique to each person who views the art or reads the books.

In the moment as we take in what’s around us, we reflect in ourselves how it makes us feel. And that feeling is unique to you and you only. This is the fundamental reason that art is so important. We may not think much of it now, but art always reflects the time, era or location that we are in, in that moment. Whether we realize it or not.

So I recently did a photoshoot with my brother where I painted him completely white so that he could resemble a greek statue. Click here and scroll to the bottom to see pictures.

The basic meaning to these pictures is that I view each and every person I meet with my camera as a piece of art. Like a gorgeous or handsome greek statue, posed in front of the camera. Perfectly frozen in time. You are the art.

But if you look a little closer, you may realize a deeper meaning, and it can mean something totally different to each person who views them.

A statue, sculpted to the way he is, wants to be even more ‘perfect’. He picks up his chisel and a hammer and begins to sculpt away at himself but in the process takes it too far. He reveals a fleshy skin from within. He hates what he sees. An ‘imperfection’ within his hard, stone-like shell. But now that he’s gone too far, he can’t go back. At first, he hates his vulnerable fleshy skin but as he starts to accept it. The rest of the stone skin begins to shed off. Within he has found something even more beautiful than before, himself. He realizes what makes him imperfect, makes him human. He’s free to move and do whatever he likes and can step into the future with a new freedom. You can’t be whole if you don’t see the good and the bad within yourself, and love each side unconditionally.

To me, this means a few things and I go over some of my general interpretation in my ‘stories’ post. But in that post, I wasn’t personal to what it means to me alone. I have always had a bad habit of picking at my skin, and in this photoshoot can be visualized as chiseling away. I feel a bump on my face and I begin to pick it apart, wanting a smooth surface upon my face without even thinking about it. I do this without really thinking about it, but mostly in anxious situations. It’s a comfort, until I see the scars it leaves behind. It turns into a never-ending cycle of trying to make my face smooth. Even as the scabs begin to appear, trying to heal what I inflict onto myself. With this revelation of realizing the core of why I do this; I can’t fix something that naturally happens. There is good and bad and I will never-not have bumps appear on my face. Instead, I need to accept that the bumps appear because my body is doing its job. I function just as I need to in order to be who I am. Accepting that is the only way to truly loving myself fully. The good and the bad.

So love yourself fully. The good, the weird, the bad, all of it! It’s what makes us human. There is NO such thing as perfect, so why seek it?