Narrative Photography – Duane Michals

Narrative Photography – Duane Michals

Narrative Photography is the idea that a series of photographs can be used to tell a story. The staccato frame-by-frame sequence is often more striking compared to a film’s continuous flow of images as they are detached and separated allowing an audience to fill the gaps. Some narratives are easier to understand than others…

Duane Michals is one of the great photographic innovators of the last century, widely known for his work with series, multiple exposures, and text. Michals first made significant, creative strides in the field of photography during the 1960s. In an era heavily influenced by photojournalism, Michals manipulated the medium to communicate narratives. The sequences, for which he is widely known, appropriate cinema’s frame-by-frame format.

These images are disjointed but do create some sort of story. Although slightly confusing subject matter, it is quite easy to understand what is going on between frames which is what I wanted to achieve for mine. The top right sequence, it is clear to understand that two men are simply walking past each other for example. In mine, I wanted it to be clear that my subject is baking primarily but also that they are baking from their roots – using a recipe book created in her home economics class when she was fourteen.