PHOTOFEATURE AND PHOTOEDITING

Understanding Photo Editing in Mass Media

Human beings are not like other animals. We don’t take most of our food substance raw: we
either refine or process the raw food items in order to make it not only consumable but also good
for our health.

News stories are also like food items. News stories are sent to the media houses by reporters in
its crude forms. The final output, (the published news stories) are the refined forms of the crude
news sent in. Similarly, photographs are also refined to meet the taste of the readers.

If photographs are not well edited before they are published, the implication is grievous than that
of news stories. The reason is that, it is possible to refute the interpretation of the words in a
news story but it is not easy to deny a published photograph, which mirror the event. It is
obvious that photographs capture a moment in time.

Photos are generally regarded as "factual," as opposed to a drawing or painting, which would be
the artist's interpretations. Photos tend to be trusted more, because they accurately depict what is
in front of the camera at the moment the picture is taken.

In journalism, photographs are supposed to be accurate in order to depict the exact incident. The
essence of photo editing therefore does not mean that the pictures will be totally transform to
connote a meaning order than the original meaning or shows something different than what
really happened.

You can now see that the essence of photo editing in journalism is neither to glamorize the event
nor to beautify the object unlike the commercial photographers, whose objectives is to please
their clients with beautified photos.

News and features and News Photojournalism

This is an art of reporting news and events in pictures or complimenting news beat and pieces
with pictorial effects, thereby making the news content more real and credible. Photojournalism
is as important as written journalism and goes further to say that picture are as good as news
stories and sometimes more newsworthy. The interpretation of news in pictures does not need
whether one is educated or not as the language is free and literacy bound.

The camera reporter makes a great impact and contribution in modulating communication flow
especially in news reportage. It jolts the onlookers into sober reflection that Mr. X died; you
show a picture of the fatal accident that conveys the reality of such a death. In news reporting,
we have hard and soft news photographs, while hard news photographs cover accidents and
disasters of all kinds, outbreak of wars, government major events and other very important

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moves or activities that may affect the members of the society, soft news photograph cover
subjects like official opening ceremonies, foundation laying of projects, seminars and so on.
Most of our endeavours today require the services of photojournalism through news photographs
in order to create the awareness of an impact on the different segments of the society.

News photography is now an ever-present witness to events everywhere. It helps to stimulate

research far beyond the limitations of sight. Feature photographs present information in an
interesting way. They record a timely subject and can be used by posterity as reference.

An interesting and significant event can be presented in an organized series of photos called a
picture story.

The Photo Editor

- Requires a sharp eye- content, eye appeal, timeliness, impact.
- Strength to reject thousands of pictures
- Part that tells the story /highest visual impact
- Decides which story require pictorial reporting or accompanying artwork
- Considers available space
- A good photo editor need not be a god photographer.
- Photo must have interest to the reader -fire, disaster, human interest
- A photo can be libellous
- The caption accompanying or article accompanying may add the damaging element.
- Be careful how your pictures are associated with words

When you are hired to take photos or have signed or agreed to work for hire the employer holds
copyright to the photos.

If you take a picture and sell to the newspapers you own the copyright as long as you dint make
an arrangement with the buyer of the picture.

One-time rights- means once used by one paper you can re-sell to others

To copyright your picture put © sign at the back of the picture, register with the copyright office-
means all rights reserved –permission required for use

You may not register the picture unless someone uses it without paying you.

Photo Editing

Photo editing starts from chosen what to shoot and which shot tells the story better, it will
therefore clear to you that the beginning of photojournalism marked the beginning of photo

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editing. Photo editing simply means an act of making pictures fit for publication.
Photojournalists take many shots from which the editor choose one or more that best tell the
stories. The process of selecting the best shot that either tells or supports a story and the refine of
the crude shots to meet the taste of the readers is known as photo editing. Editing is the art of
adding the correct amount of lighting and sharpness to the photo. If your photo comes out too
dark, you can edit it to make it lighter. Or if you’d like to crop something out of a photo, editing
allows you to do that.
1. Select a few good pictures
2. Display pictures in large size
3. Crop pictures for impact
4. Use bleeding for a purpose
5. Tell a story.
The press photographer- should be knowledgeable in camera, material, and reproduction
He should know the subject- have a pre-conceived idea of the picture he wants (composition)
Understand the camera and show photographic equip and reproduction of a picture.
Composition- feature pictures, special reports
You’ve time to prepare
Spot news, sports –no time
Manual operated cameras best for press work.
SLR- Single Lens Reflex cameras –lighter, carries 36mm exposure
Photojournalist - can control the camera can experiment.
Balance highlights and shadows (tones)
Consider vertical/ horizontal space –gives editor latitude for placement of photo. Take a close-
up, vertical, horizontal.

Cropping- cutting out scaling unnecessary detail for lack of space.

In order to focus/ impact focus on action
Unneeded details distract viewers’ attention
Cropping is done on the negative in the darkroom
The layout editor can also put the crop marks on the printed photos.

Origin and Definitions of Photo Editing

The concept of photo editing is almost as old as photography itself. The first photographic
images were recorded in the 1820s, and one of the first widely known edited photos was a
portrait of Abraham Lincoln. Sometime in the 1860s, someone took a standing portrait of
Southern Congressman John Calhoun, pasted in Lincoln's face from the portrait for the five
dollar bill, and created a historic photo of Lincoln on the spot. Though, the newspaper started
with only words without any image, images were later added particularly when the newspaper
gave room to advertising messages. The first sets of pictures in the newspaper were art works
and line drawing. As technology improved and different cameras of various functions were
manufacture, the essence of photojournalism was felt and the need irresistible.

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Reasons for Photo Editing
As we have said earlier, you as a newspaper reader may find some photographs disgusting if they
are published raw without editing.
Editing is not or not only to beautify the photographs to be published, there are many substantial
reasons why photo editing is a must in journalism. Let’s have a look at some of the reasons:

Editing for clarity: Photographs to be published may not be clear enough for the media
audience to interpret. It may be that the photograph is too small to be visible or so blurred that
the image(s) could not be identified. It may also be that the colour of the image in the photograph
submerged in the background colour, making it difficult to separate the image from the
background.

The reasons for taking shots that are not clear are: a. Quality of the camera b. How qualify the
photojournalist and his/her experience c. Climatic condition and the angle from which the shot is
taken d. Type of shot taken e.g. motion shot.

Editing for Specific Targets: Photo editing sometimes is done to achieve specific goals. It
could be done to lay emphasis on specific parts of a photograph or to hide the parts that do not
support the news story. For example in a photograph of road accident victim, photo editing could
be done to lay emphasis on the injured parts and to hide other parts of the body of the victim.

Editing for Moral Value: Some photographs are obscene and do not conform to our moral
standard and value. Any photograph that disregards human dignity and glamorizes indecency
and immorality needs to be edited in order to protect our moral value

Editing for beautification: Sometimes, photographs are edited to beautify the image or scene of
an incident if there is need for it. If the photograph of an important figure is taken in a
ceremonious function, the photograph could be beautified in a way that will not change the
context but rather better portray the event. If you critically study the figure five below, you will
notice that it was not well edited as you could find red-eye in the photograph (see the arrow).
Red-eye defect occurs when more light than require lands on the object while taken the shot. It
can be removed during editing to make picture not only beautiful but also to look as if it was not
taking with the defects.

Editing for Legal Implication: Some editing are done to photographs published in newspaper to
avoid running avow of law. Many of the media houses have been found guilty of publishing
photographs indiscriminately without given consideration to legal implication. For example, if
the photograph of a criminal is taken with some onlookers at the background, the background
needs to be edited and make plain. Otherwise, it may be misinterpreted that the persons in the
background are also criminals, and indeed it is libellous. Also, the faces of accused persons must
be blurred by the media houses when publishing or when showing on the television until the
court of law pronounces them guilty of the offence

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 Conclusion Note that photo editing is an important aspect of media practice which must be
handled with same care and attention given to other aspects. You should also know that the
reasons why photographs are edited are more than those common ones discussed above. Photo
editing is a function of professionals who know the pros and cons of handling it with levity.

Summary As you have noticed, this unit dwells much on general understanding of photo editing.
It also gives you an insight into various definition of photo editing as well as a brief 62 origin of
photo editing locally as well as internationally. It also takes you through the reasons while media
houses edit photographs before they are published

PHOTO FEATURE/ PHOTO ESSAY

Photojournalism is as important as written journalism and goes further to say that pictures are as
good as news stories and sometimes more news worthy.

Photo Essay:
- A photo-essay is a set or series of photographs that are intended to tell a story or evoke a
series of emotions in the viewer. It is the photographic equivalent of a literary essay.
- This is an art of reporting news and events in pictures or complimenting news beat and
pieces with pictorial effects, thereby making the news content more real and credible.
Current events can be captured pictorially
- A photo essay will often show pictures in deep emotional stages.
- Photo essays range from purely photographic works to photographs with captions or small
notes to full text essays with a few or many accompanying photographs.
- Photo essays can be sequential in nature, intended to be viewed in a particular order, or
they may consist of non-ordered photographs which may be viewed all at once or in an
order chosen by the viewer.

Sequencing
- Sequencing refers to the order you put your samples within your portfolio (collection).
Several pictures in a logical layout, cropping or picture size. Use of several pictures
grouped together in an overall theme and design.
- The picture editor works closely with the photographer and design artist in the selection
and arrangement
- It involves organising a number of pictures on a single theme to give a fuller, more intense
view of a subject, an idea, a person, an event, a place.
- The pictures could be narrative, chronological or thematic.
- The pictures must work together to enrich the theme.
- The group of photos should form a cohere daily and weekly newspapers, nt narrative
- Photo essays are used in picture magazines

Photo Layout
- Several pictures are required in a picture story to show developing action.

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 - A picture story with an effective photographic layout is the ultimate in photographic
communication.
- Pictures have a limitation in that they freeze action/an instant of time but do not tell what
happened before or after.
- If pictures leave questions of doubt, captions should supply the missing information.
- Placement of photo in the layout should be;
- A picture in the upper left corner of a layout is said to receive much attention.
- Size of the picture, subject matter, are important. The bigger the picture, the more the
attention.
- Good photographic layout should have a focal point which accesses the eye and draws the
reader to the picture.
- The lead picture should be able to draw reader attention, make the readers read more.
- There are differences of interest between male and female leaders.

Steps in Good Layout

1. The photography assignment
2. The photography
3. The editorial conference (includes the editor, photographer, reporter, designer and lab
technician).
4. The working layout
5. Caption writing
6. The final proof
Any good photo representation is a result of good teamwork between the photographer, reporter,
editor and lab technician.

The skills of each and every one are required.

1. The photography assignment.
The beginning point is the idea of the picture.
Time and place. Number of pictures needed, space allowed for the layout, key indicators on
events to be pictured, the person or events likely to provide the lead on the big picture.
2. The photography
Photographers must be included in planning the assignments.
Assignments should be open-ended
Give the photographer room for his own creativity. He should be free to develop his own
ideas. The responsibility of picture identification lies with the photographer unless
accompanied by the reporter.
Each picture should be identified with a left to right identification tags. Get notes of picture
and number of pictures taken i.e. have the identification tags.
3. The working layout.
The editor, reporter meets to evaluate the assignment. They ponder over whether the effort
has produced effective material for photographic layout or are there pictures which identify
the locale or theme of the layout. This is called the establishing shot.

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 Are all persons properly identified? Is all information for general caption and text matter in
place on hand? Are all the essential pictures of good quality? Do the results justify the
original space allotted for the layout? What further pictures or information are needed to
complete the layout?
4. The working layout
First step is to make the dummy sheet.
This is done by the best person qualified to get the sheet i.e. editor or reporter
Do it in a corner away from distraction
The eye-catching lead picture is selected
Select the size of the picture
Select other pictures to accompany this main picture (the fillers)
Space is allowed for all type matter within the layout
Duplicate layout sheets are done for the caption writer who always must write to fill the
space.
5. Caption writing
Space is limited. Writer must write and re-write within that space
Care must be taken to write the caption in a neat layout
6. Final proof
Done to ensure that the picture, texts and captions harmonise for effective communication.

Content in photo essays

- Pictures use a universal language and can be understood and make an impact on even the
illiterate. They transcend language and nationality barriers. This is how children who are
learning are taught by associating words with pictures.
- The camera reporter makes a great impact and contribution in modulating communication
flow especially in news reportage. It jolts the onlookers into sober reflection that Mr. X
died; you show a picture of the fatal accident that conveys the reality of such a death. In
news reporting, we have hard and soft news photographs, while hard news photographs
cover accidents and disasters of all kinds, outbreak of wars, government major events and
other very important moves or activities that may affect the members of the society, soft
news photograph cover subjects like official opening ceremonies, foundation laying of
projects, seminars and so on.
- Most of our endeavours today require the services of photojournalism through news
photographs in order to create the awareness of an impact on the different segments of the
society.
- News photography is now an ever-present witness to events everywhere. It helps to
stimulate research far beyond the limitations of sight
- Feature photographs present information in an interesting way. They record a timely
subject and can be used by posterity as reference.
- An interesting and significant event can be presented in an organized series of photos
called a picture story.

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- In photojournalism pictures should portray human interest i.e. cover social economic
educational and cultural aspects of human endeavours. A picture of a horrible motor
accident is a lesson for other motorists to be careful on the road.
- It is not ethical to invade on privacy like the tabloids did on the British royal family. It is
also not right to capitalize on personal grief. The picture of two grieving mother after a
tragic accident appeals to the readers’ emotion but is not helpful or newsworthy.
- A photojournalist must have a news sense and take pictures that have news value. The
pictures must be artistic and creative.
- Though pictures inform in a universal language, they can be manipulated to misinform, to
make a statement convey messages and emotions. They can also be faked e.g. by
highlighting failures only. Using a wide angle lens exaggerates the picture. This has been
done by photojournalists e.g. in pictures of Rwandan refugees where they were portrayed
as diminutive grotesque in stance. Photographs can be faked in the darkroom by super
imposing i.e. putting two images together to create a picture. It can also be done by
cropping to cut out some parts and emphasize certain features. Retouching is another
method used to remove or add to features on a photo.
- Use of filters affects the photos by making them too dark or too light thus distorting the
truth.
- The angle from which the photographer takes the picture can also distort the truth. For
proper visual communication photographs must have certain technical features. The
exposure could highlight or distort certain aspects. Lighting and focus must be adjusted to
give the correct print contrast and tone.
- The picture must be able to communicate a message to the reader, appeal to the eye to
create an impact. It must interest the viewer and convey a message more than words.
- In taking pictures the photojournalist must understand the policy of his /her newspaper. A
paper like ‘standard’ is likely to publish nudity while ‘target’ a Christian newspaper will
not.
- Viewpoint is important in photography. It helps to focus on detail that the photojournalist
wants shown.
- Picture balance gives a photo the desirable quality.
- A caption must then accompany the picture to communicate what the visual image does
not. The caption should explain the content and context of the picture.
- Photojournalism has improved with introduction of film and flash bulbs instead of glass
plates and dangerous flash powder.
- Using the internet photos can now be transmitted easily around the world. The
introduction of the digital cameras has greatly improved the speed at which photos can be
taken and processed.
- With improved technology in PJ, photo magazines have made PJ a truly mass medium and
increased coverage of life and events.
- Ethics demand that photos should not hurt.

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Photo essays in print: By the late 1930s, publications like Berliner Illustrirte Zeitung in
Germany and Life magazine in the United States regularly published photo essays as an
alternative way to tell narratives. Events such as the Great Depression, World War II, and the
Vietnam War led to the “Golden Age of Photojournalism,” and were turning points for the way
photographs could tell news stories.

Contemporary photojournalism: Today, photojournalism is present in major daily, weekly,

or monthly publications, including The New York Times, The Washington Post, National
Geographic, Reuters, and The Associated Press. There are also photo magazines, agencies, and
foundations dedicated solely to photojournalism, including Magnum Photos, World Press
Photo, and VII Photo Agency.

Social media: The advancement of social media has allowed photojournalism to be distributed
to news outlets much faster. Photojournalism is sometimes captured on smartphones.

Photo Essay Ideas and Examples

Photo essay topics

If you’re looking for photo essay examples, chances are you’re looking to create a photo essay
for yourself. If you’re just getting started, you might want some guidance on exactly what kinds
of topics make for great photo essays.

More experienced photographers — feel free to skip this section. But for those who are just
starting out, here’s a quick list of classic photo essay subject matter, for all types of photo essays.

One of the best ways to gain a better understanding of photo essays is to view some photo essay
examples. If you take the time to study these executions in detail, you’ll see just how photo
essays can make you a better photographer and offer you a better “voice” with which to speak to
your audience.

Here are some ideas of topics for your photo essay:

Place over time: Consider taking pictures of one particular place over a period of time. Potential
places include streets, houses or public parks.

Technology: A possible idea for a photo essay is to take pictures of different types of
technology. Your essay can include technology from different eras, different parts of the world
or serve different functions.

Photowalk: You can simulate a walking tour by creating a series of photos that show locations.
Think about sequencing the images so that you get a comprehensive look at an area.

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Physical changes: One idea you can use for your photo essay is to document a person's small
physical change. Some examples include shaving a mustache, dying their hair or getting a tattoo.

Urban exploration: You can explore an old or abandoned building and document the
experience for your photo essay. This is a good topic to experiment with weird angles, capture
strange or overgrown objects or use unique lighting methods.

Behind the scenes: Consider taking photographs of people working at a particular job. Some
potential situations are photo shoots, the set of a film, or behind the scenes of a play.

Street fashion: If you live in a city or some other fashionable location, you can create a
collection of local fashion. You can pick a particular location or choose a sub-genre of clothing.

Landmarks: Consider making a photo essay about one or more famous landmarks. You can
create a time-lapse essay about a singular landmark or explore multiple landmarks in different
areas.

A day in the life: You can capture a particular subject in different situations during the course of
one day. You can make your subject a single person or a group, such as a family.

Educational: Some photo essays can serve as educational aids. You can take pictures that help
teach a certain concept or relay information about a particular subject.

Meals: Consider using food or meals as the subject of your photo essay. Some ideas include
recreating iconic meals, tracking the meals of one particular person, or one specific type of food
in different cultures.

Neighborhood: You can take pictures of your neighborhood or a neighborhood you're familiar
with. This photo essay can feature several locations of the neighborhood or tell the story of how
a neighborhood changes over time.

Sports fans: Sports fans often travel to various locations and participate in different activities.
You can capture the behavior of either a particular team's fans, an individual sports fan or
multiple types of fans at different locations.

Social issues: Many photographers use photo essays to highlight a particular social issue. Social
issues include racism, immigration and domestic violence. Take photos depicting significant
social issues in your community, remembering to respect your subjects.

Pets: Consider using a pet or type of pet as the subject for your photo essay. Some ideas include
different owners with the same breed of cat, dogs from around the world or the life cycle of a
goldfish.

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Charity: You can create a photo essay based on a particular charity or cause. Examples of
charities include aid workers, organizations who build homes or soup kitchens.

Religious traditions: A photo essay can capture pictures of religious ceremonies or traditions
from different cultures. Some possibilities include baptisms, religious holidays or religious
services.

School: Think about capturing a series of photos set in schools or other educational institutions.
Potential subjects include after-school activities, classrooms around the world or time-lapse
photo essays at a particular school.

Photograph Native Cultures and Traditions

If you’ve ever opened up a copy of National Geographic, you’ve probably seen photo essay
examples that fit this category. To many, the traditions, dress, religious ceremonies, and
celebrations of native peoples and foreign cultures can be utterly captivating. For travel
photographers, this is considered one of the best ways to tell a story with or without text.
Consider using your photo essay to explore a different culture. You can take pictures of
culturally specific clothing, events or traditional activities.

Personal space: Some photo essays can capture a person's personal space, such as a bedroom.
You may take pictures of different people's personal spaces or a single space over time.

Alternative lifestyles: Consider choosing a subject that people may consider unusual for your
photo essay. Some potential subjects include polyamorous relationships, subcultures or people
who live in tiny homes.

Seasonal changes: You can take a series of time-lapse pictures to show the change of seasons in
a specific area. This category may overlap with other examples because you can use other
subjects, such as monuments or specific locations, to help you demonstrate the weather.

Hotel rooms: There are hotels all over the world, many of which have very similar room
layouts. You can create a photo essay by capturing different hotel rooms or a singular room over
time.

Public transportation: Consider taking pictures of people on public transportation. Some public
transportation options include Matatus, boda boda, buses, trains and trams.

Toys: Toys have a large amount of variation, which gives you many the opportunity for multiple
types of narratives. Some examples of photo essays relating to toys include toys from different
cultures, the same toy under different owners or a particular category of toy.

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Professions: Think about making a photo essay about a profession or type of job. You can create
a collection about multiple types of occupations, such as doctors, fast food workers or flight
attendants.

Relationships: You can create a series of images detailing the relationship between two or more
people. Relationships can include couples, families or members of a sports team.

Workplaces: Consider creating a photo essay about a location where people work. Some
examples of workplaces are coffee shops, office buildings or fire stations.

Cover a Protest or March: Some of the best photo essay examples come from marches,
protests, and other events associated with movements or socio-political statements. Such events
allow you to take pictures of angry, happy, or otherwise empowered individuals in high-energy
settings. The photo essay narrative can also be further enhanced by arriving early or staying long
after the protest has ended to catch contrasting images.

Profile of a person. A great way to get to know someone is to profile them in a photo essay.
This could be a family member, friend, or even just someone you’ve met.

Photograph a Local Event: Try to take pictures of a local event, such as a parade, local
celebration or political rally. If they take place in the same general area or share a topic, you can
include multiple events in your essay.

Whether you know it or not, there are countless unique and interesting events going on in and
around your town this year. Such events provide photographers new opportunities to put together
compelling photo essays. From ethnic festivals to historical events to food and beverage
celebrations, there are many different ways to capture and celebrate local life. A great way to
start out is photograph local events in your community, such as a high school fundraiser. A
bonus is that you’ll have a ready

Visit an Abandoned Site or Building: Old homes and historical sites are rich with detail and
can sometimes appear dilapidated, overgrown by weeds, or broken down by time. These qualities
make them a dynamic and exciting subject. Many great photo essay examples of abandoned
homes use a mix of far-away shots, close-ups, weird angles, and unique lighting. Such
techniques help set a mood that the audience can feel through the photographs.

Chronicle a Pregnancy: Pregnancy is a good subject for a photo essay because there are clear
physical changes over time that you can capture with a camera. You may create an essay with
one or more pregnant subjects.

Few photo essay topics could be more personal than telling the story of a pregnancy. Though it
can require some preparation and will take a lot of time, the results of an essay like this are

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usually extremely emotionally-charged and touching. In some cases, photographers will continue
the project as the child grows as well.

Photograph Unique Lifestyles: People all over the world are embracing society’s changes in
different ways. People are living in vans or in “tiny houses,” people are living in the woods miles
away from everyone else, and others are growing food on self-sustaining farms. Some of the best
photo essay examples have been born out of these new, inspiring movements.

Photograph Animals or Pets: If you have a favorite animal (or one that you know very little
about), you might want to arrange a way to see the animal up close and tell its story through
images. You can take photos like this in a zoo or the animal’s natural habitat, depending on the
type of animal you choose. Pets are another great topic and are among the most popular subjects
for many photographers.

Show Body Positive Themes: So much of modern photography is about showing the best
looking, prettiest, or sexiest people at all times. Choosing a photo essay theme like body
positivity, however, allows you to film a wide range of interesting-looking people from all walks
of life.

Such a theme doesn’t just apply to women either, as there is beauty to be found everywhere. As a
photo essay photographer, it’s your job to find it!

Bring Social Issues to Life: Some of the most impactful social essay examples are those where
the photographer chooses to focus on social issues. From discrimination to domestic violence to
the injustices of the prison system, there are many ways that a creative photographer can
highlight what’s wrong with the world. When paired with compelling subjects and some basic
text, these photo essays can be incredibly powerful.

Photograph Style and Fashion: If you live in or know of a particularly stylish locale or area,
you can put together an excellent thematic photo essay by capturing impromptu shots of well-
dressed people as they pass by. As with culture, style is easily identifiable and is as unifying as it
is divisive. Great photo essay examples include people who’ve covered fashion sub-genres from
all over the world, like urban hip hop or Japanese Visual Kei.

Capture Seasonal or Time Changes: Time-lapse photography is very compelling to most

viewers. What they do in a few hours, however, others are doing over months, years, and even
decades. If you know of an exciting landscape or scene, you can try to capture the same image in
Winter, Spring, Summer, and Fall, and put that all together into one photo series.

Alternatively, you can photograph something being lost or ravaged by time or weather. The
subject can be as simple as the wall of an old building or as complex as an old house in the

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woods being taken over by nature. As always, there are countless transformation-based photo
essay examples from which you can draw inspiration.

Photograph Humanitarian Efforts or Charity: Humanitarian efforts by groups like Habitat for
Humanity, the Red Cross, and Doctors Without Borders can invoke a powerful response through
even the simplest of photos. While it can be hard to put yourself in a position to get the images,
there are countless photo essay examples to serve as inspiration for your project.

Historic sites: Another classic photo essay topic is an exploration of a historic site. This could
be a building, a monument, or even just a specific location that has significance.

Animals in captivity: Another popular subject matter for photo essays is animals in captivity,
whether that’s at a zoo or elsewhere.

A day in the life: Have you ever wondered what it’s like to live someone else’s life for a day?
Why not find out and document it in a photo essay?

Street photography: Another great way to practice your photography skills is to head out into
the streets and photograph the everyday lives of people around you. The world has plenty of
photo essays of cities like New York and London. But what about street photography in your
own backyard?

Still life photography: Still life photography is all about capturing inanimate objects on film.
This could be anything from flowers to furniture to food. It’s a great way to practice your
photography skills and learn about composition

Landscapes. Landscape photography is one of the most popular genres, and for good reason.
There are endless possibilities when it comes to finding interesting subjects to shoot. So get out
there and start exploring!

Abandoned buildings: There’s something fascinating about abandoned buildings. They offer a
glimpse into the past, and can be eerily beautiful. If you have any in your area, they make for
great photo essay subjects.

Lifestyles: Document someone who lives a lifestyle that’s different from your own. This could
be a portrayal of an everyday person, or it could be someone with an unusual job or hobby.

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