Expanding Visual Storytelling Beyond Photography: An Introduction
24 stills - Or how incorporating a mixed-media approach benefits your work as a photographer and beyond.
Notes from the Lab is a newsletter that delves deep into the creative process, rituals, and thought process behind being a photographer and filmmaker.
This project is a journal of my projects and experiments. A logbook of everything I learn, a record of inspirations and takeaways from my journey as a parent and artist. I want to share my creative and technical progress relentlessly — because gatekeeping sucks. It’s published (almost-) weekly.
Recently, after somewhat of a hiatus, I have become more determined to integrate moving images much more profoundly, both in my personal work and commercial work.
For context: Initially, I studied graphic design at the University of Applied Sciences in Mainz. During my studies, there was an approach to working with different departments at our university, so I got in touch with photography, expressly moving images. I enjoyed working in these media so much that I focused my creative efforts on photography and film.
Subsequently, my graduation project was a short documentary intended to be told solely through still images but became a 10-minute short film that I finished in 2010. It was a simple portrait film, an interview of some sort, but it also was an exploration and a first try at achieving an intimate view into a person’s mind. An idea that stuck with me since in one form or another.
Back in the day, the democratization of the medium film gained a lot of steam with the arrival of the 5D Mark II, and suddenly, it was more accessible and much more affordable to experiment with the medium. Additionally, there was a bigger intertwining between stills and motion, as it was possible to use the same camera for stills and motion reasonably for the first time. That’s when I think a tiny revolution happened that, to this day, holds a lot of opportunity and a vast playing field of still unexplored territory.
Over the last couple of years, I worked on different media for personal and paid projects, between commercials, working on music videos, and corporate documentaries. However, with a stronger priority on still images, it wasn't before I removed the pressure and perceived the medium without the limits of wanting to achieve too much too fast that I found true inspiration within myself.
Instead, I opened up to a more hands-on process with less overthinking. And I found my love and curiosity for moving images again. This is the path that I want to share with you in the coming weeks, starting with some basic ideas on why you should at least get a grip on moving images as a photographer.
Two aspects play a role when transitioning from photography to a more mixed-media approach:
The first aspect is one of artistic choice. To acknowledge and cherish the full potential of the marriage of images, editing, and sound. And there is a vast range to bridge between photography and traditional filmmaking. Voiceover on a simple portrait, Ambient sounds added to a static landscape, slideshows, juxtapositions, the list is endless, and it doesn’t necessarily need a huge investment to get started and explore the medium. You might already have all the necessary tools and resources at your immediate reach to do fantastic work.
There only has to be an idea and dedication to the process. It is an entire journey, but at the same time, that journey will reveal opportunities and open up creative landscapes you might never see through the lens of static photography alone.
The second aspect is less artistic and idealistic but an essential factor for my work, to be honest — the commercial element. Market demand for output beyond stills has skyrocketed over the last couple of years, and I get asked for both moving and still images by clients regularly and ever-growingly. On the one hand, this is a significant chance to diversify the kind of work at hand, raising the rates and using a broader set of tools and workforce to tell stories from many different angles.
This, at the same time, can be a problematic take as well. First, creating moving pictures that genuinely “move” isn’t as easily accessible as some clients think. Like two sides of a brain, both media require a different school of thinking. Although they are seemingly comparable, there is a reason there are usually two different departments on more extensive sets for still and moving images, as moving images take a lot more time for preparation and time on set, as well as a whole world of knowledge and a steep learning curve. And by steep, I mean STEEP, to get at least a basic understanding of editing, lighting, camera movement, directing, blocking, sound design, grading, etc.
But the knowledge is out there, and for sure, film school might help to get your feet into the serious business. Still, there are a lot of real-world examples of people transitioning from all fields of the creative industry that use the medium in a fresh and unseen way. And the possibilities are endless, from simple moving scenes to full-blown short films and documentaries.
But it’s also way too easy to get entangled in a shitload of opinions, Reels, Youtube bros rambling about the latest tech, and a general overload of content to distract you from using the medium to express your vision.
Trust me, I’ve been there myself, and it can be crippling. Still, the more I work myself through the hardship of distraction, with a constant reminder to stay curious, the more new paths I discover, especially if I view the medium from different lenses and apart from traditional viewpoints and schools of thought (although it helps to learn the fundamental rules before considering to break them)
Let’s embark on this journey together and explore moving images in the context of being a photographer and learn how both sides of the same coin inform and complement each other. And, in the best case, upgrade our ability to tell stories and our toolset as image-makers. Let’s study references together, ask questions, and learn in real-time. There is a lot to do.
As always, I’m happy to hear your thoughts in the comments or my inbox. Don’t hesitate to write!
— Ramon
01 — HOUSEKEEPING
Weekly Log
If you don’t subscribe to this newsletter or check my Substack account on the web or app regularly, you might have missed that I am doing short weekly video recaps of everything I worked on and experienced in a week. It’s a simple video diary, shot on a GoPro and edited quickly in CapCut for convenience, usually around one to three minutes.
I’ve been doing these short video diaries for a long time to help me remember my progress and celebrate some of the beautiful or even mundane things that I consider noteworthy.
I purposely decided to keep these recaps under a rock and not publish them via mail or app because I want this newsletter to stay a resource of knowledge and inspiration. I like the idea of keeping the Log publicly accessible but not promoted aggressively; this way, it remains much more intimate and personal but still accessible. Find an archive of weekly logs (so far, it’s seven weeks) here and head back for weekly updates: Weekly Log.
02 — THINGS WORTH SHARING
The Cinema Cartography
The Cinema Cartography is a fantastic Youtube Channel, dedicated to the art of filmmaking and movie history/theory and some glimpses past. A great resource and very entertaining at the same time. Speaking of the basics, the foundation and inspiration, this is one of the best resources.
Wow dude. That was quite incredible how much she revealed in a relatively little time and incredibly personal!