Photo essay theme

Some of the most famous photo essayists include Ansel Adams, W. Eugene Smith, and James Nachtwey. Of course, there are thousands of photo essay examples out there from which you can draw inspiration.

Be a ruthless photo editor. Your editing process should be blunt. If a shot is beautiful but won’t work in your essay, don’t use it. However, don’t edit any images on the same day you shoot; it’ll be easier to be objective if you let a little time pass between shooting and editing.

Thematic photo essays speak on a specific subject. For instance, there were numerous photo essays put together in the 1930s to capture the ruin of The Great Depression. Though some of these presentations followed specific people or families, they mostly told the “story” of the entire event.

Photo essays are generally persuasive essays, which means they need a subject or theme, a direction, and a sense of purpose. However, this is also a matter of journalism, so photo essays need to have a narrative. They communicate information or express an opinion by telling a story.