Location Photo Essays - What is a Location Photo Essay? Create Your Own Location Photo Essay with These Photo Essay Ideas!
A Location Photo Essay-What Is It?
Another type of photo essay is a location essay. This type of essay is used to capture the feel and emotion of a particular location. Have you ever noticed while looking at a photo of a warm tropical location you start to feel warmer? Or you get a sudden chill looking at snow-capped mountains? That photographer has conveyed to you that location’s experience. These photos don’t need to be in any particular order. Because these photos are showing a specific location, there’s no way to tell where an essay should begin or end. One person may start at the street they live on, while someone else decides to start at the city limits.
Now You Try!
To begin a location-based photo essay, you’ll need a camera and a location. The location doesn’t have to be somewhere special. You could photograph your neighborhood, a nearby park, or even the zoo if you have one nearby. The best thing to remember for location essays is that there is no right or wrong starting point. If you want to start at the exit, by all means do so! Wherever you decide to start, make sure there is some sort of pattern. Don’t just take random photos; the essay needs to flow smoothly from one photo to the next. Someone should be able to look at the essay and get a sense that they are there with you, walking next to you. That isn’t going to work very well if one photo is of an oak tree and the next photo is the maple tree all the way on the other side of the park. If it’s easier for you, just take photos without thinking about how they fit together. When you’ve finished, look over the photos and pretend you are going to show them to someone who has never been to that location. What would you show them first? How would you end the essay? Most of all remember to have fun! This isn’t graded, and no one is going to chastise you for doing it differently than someone else might.
This post is part of the series: What Is A Photo Essay and How Do I Create One?
This article series explains what a photo essay is. It will explain the different types of photo essays, as well as give you ideas on how to create one yourself.
