Us and Them
But storytelling photography still matters because it’s the closest thing we have to empathy made visible. It’s the one art form that can collapse the distance between “them” and “us.” It turns suffering into understanding, moments into meaning, strangers into witnesses.
A storytelling image has no expiration date. It doesn’t need hashtags or virality. It lives in the collective conscience. It becomes part of how we remember history, not the way it was framed, but the way it was felt.
…Becoming a well-rounded photographer is not about becoming perfect. It’s about becoming present. It’s about remembering that the camera isn’t a shield between you and the world, it’s a bridge. A good photograph doesn’t ask the viewer to admire you; it asks them to feel something.
– Jared Thomas Tapy at The Creative Connection (here’s the video version)
I felt a lot last weekend at the No Kings rally in Lansing, Michigan – like this counter protester who was peacefully escorted off the capitol lawn after smacking someone in the face with his giant cross.
Point your camera at the things that matter. It does you and the world a bit of good.