Camera and Capture Module 9 – Photographic Essays – Danni’s Photography Journey at Billy Blue

This week we have been learning about photo essays. We have been learning what makes a good photo essay, the differences between a Narrative and a Thematic photo essay, and we had to do some research on photo essays.

The first activity this week was to research photo essays and choose 3 that powerfully tell a story through visual imagery.

Here are 3 examples of powerful photo essays from https://www.worldpressphoto.org/

‘Kho, the Genesis of a Revolt’ by Romain Laurendeau https://www.worldpressphoto.org/collection/photo/2020/39851/1/Romain-Laurendeau-SOY
This photo story won the 2020 World Press Photo Story of the Year, and I can see why. According to the photographer, “Kho (the word means ‘brother’ in colloquial North-African Arabic) is about the genesis of a revolt. It is the story of the deep unease of youth, who, by daring to challenge authority, inspired the rest of the population to join their action, giving birth to the largest protest movement in Algeria in decades.”

The imagery is very powerful, we see teens kissing in public and getting tattoos in private. Things that are taboo or forbidden in Algeria.
We see Ultra football fans protesting and chanting insults against the state, the president, generals, and police during the final of the Algerian Cup in Algiers.

The closing shot of this photo story is the most powerful and striking for me. Here we see a girl draped in the Algerian flag joining one of the regular Friday protest marches.
This is a powerful closing shot for me because up until this point, we have mostly only seen men and male youths in the photo story, and now we see a young girl following in their footsteps.

‘Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302 Crash Site’ by Mulugeta Ayene
https://www.worldpressphoto.org/collection/photo/2020/39610/1/Mulugeta-Ayene-SOY-nominee
This photo story was nominated for the 2020 World Press Photo Story of the Year.
This story covers the crash of Ethiopian Airlines Flight ET302, a Boeing 737 MAX, that disappeared from the radar six minutes after take-off from Addis Ababa airport and crashed into a field, killing all 157 people on board on 10 March 2019.

This photo story has some very powerful images. The ones that really speak to me are the photos of the grieving families of those that were killed in the plane crash. There is one image in particular, number 7, that speaks to me. The image is of a young woman obviously grieving, holding up a photo of another young woman who must have been a victim in the plane crash. The young woman is being comforted by another woman in a crowd as she grieves. The young woman holding the photo, and the young woman in the photo look so alike I think they must be sisters. I have a sister so this image really speaks to me. The grief and despair on her face is heartbreaking.

‘Hong Kong Unrest’ by Nicolas Asfouri
https://www.worldpressphoto.org/collection/photo/2020/39609/1/Nicolas-Asfouri-SOY-nominee
This photo story was also nominated for the 2020 World Press Photo Story of the Year.
This one covers protests in Hong Kong at the end of March 2019 in response to government proposals to amend existing legislation to allow extradition to mainland China. Anti-government demonstrations gathered momentum over the following weeks as pro-democracy groups united, with students playing a large role in protests and in human-chain rallies.

The most powerful images in this story to me are of the police brutality in Hong Kong. The police firing water cannons, the Riot police charging protesters, the protestor being held down, the woman carrying an umbrella in protest who appears to be pregnant, and the last image. The two men being held against a brick wall while the police check their identities is very powerful, the look on the man’s face and his arm held up in defence is very powerful. He looks like he is asking “Why are you doing this?”.

The second activity this week was to create our own photo story.

Mine is not about war or death, but a simple photo story taken in my own home of my family.
Here is my photo story I created this week titled ‘Wednesday, 15 April 2020’.