What is your story?

I keep hearing this word over, and over, and over again. Story.

I have called myself a photographer for the last two years. I have defined things by my ability to capture them in a digital image and display it in print or on the web. I have spoken often about the power of images. To effect emotion. To effect change.

But I’m coming to realize that images are only, pardon the expression, part of the picture. I find myself sitting here tonight thinking about how much more there is to the world than simple images. I’m not talking about the convergence of still photography and motion pictures, I’m talking about story. Narrative.

There are over 6 billion people on the planet right now. If you spent an hour with every person listening to their story it would take you over 600,000 years to hear all the stories. But think of how amazing it would be. 6 billion explanations of what it means to be alive. What it means to love. What it means to grieve. The beauty. The pain. The stories.

I want to help people tell their stories. I want to empower them to tell their stories. I want to share their stories. I want to connect people in Argentina to people in Angola to people in Azerbaijan to people in Astoria. I want to hear Russian grandfathers talk about working in the factories and African children talk about playing in the elephant grass. I want to…

I don’t want to just be a photographer anymore. I want to be a storyteller. I want to mix words and photos and motion graphics and video and song to make a record of what it means to be us. You and me.

So.

Lets get started.

What is your story?

Filed under: life, photography by Jonathan