Photo essays are multiple photographs that are combined to tell a story. Photo essays provoke emotion and are meaningful to those who create them as much as to those who look at them. Photo essays are used in several industries such as journalism, arts, marketing and more. Photojournalists use photo essays to explore a theme, such as a historical event, societal issue or tradition. To create a photo essay, it’s important to know the difference between one and a picture story. A photo essay is reflective and provides a point of view, while a picture story has a beginning, middle and end. Picture stories are used to showcase an event and not a theme. In this post, I’ll explain how to create a photo essay in five simple steps.

1. Choose a theme

Just as a public relations professional would use the RPIE (Research, Planning, Implementing, Evaluation) strategy to create a campaign, the first recommended step to create a photo essay is to research what theme you want to explore. The theme can range from an interest of yours, an issue you are passionate about, or a topic you have been planning to explore but haven’t had the opportunity to do so. For example, if you want your theme to be sports, here are two ways you can explore this topic.

The Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games photo essay showcases the highs and lows of athletes participating in the Olympic Games. The photos of the event, which happens every four years, shows the athletes’ frustration when losing and the athletes' emotion when winning.
This 2014 FIFA World Cup photo essay showcases the patriotism that people have for their countries. The photos don’t focus on a single player or on the national teams themselves, but focus on the crowds and the fans on the streets.

Although both essays are about sports, one revolves around the athletes’ struggles throughout the Olympic Games. The World Cup essay shows the expressions of the people who watch these sporting events. This example can be applied to any other topic. After settling on a theme, you can start planning and executing your project.

An example of a photo from the 2014 FIFA World Cup photo essay where Brazilian fans are celebrating. Photo Credit: Daniel Cole

2. Choose the sequence of your essay

Having a sequence is an essential part of your photo essay. In a picture story, you would have a beginning, middle and end. However, a photo essay includes an opening photo, supporting photos and a closing photo. An opening photo is essentially an introduction of an essay. The opening photo will stand out from the rest and will give the audience a sense of what the rest of the theme will be about. The supporting photos will include portraits of subjects, interactions, detail shots and more. The closing photo will end the topic and answer any questions your audience had. During this planning step, you should select what locations you want to go to, what people you want to take portraits of and what detail shots you want to capture. Once you choose what types of photos you want to capture, the process of your photo essay will be easier.

3. Take practice photos

Now that you know what theme you want to focus on and it’s sequence of it, it’s necessary to practice your photography first rather than trying to go out in the field and start on your photo essay. You can start taking photos of anything to make sure you are comfortable with your camera. I would recommend taking close-ups of non-moving subjects, such as a plant or a building, first. Then, you can gradually move on to taking photos of a moving subject, such as a person or a car. This way, you are not jumping right into the topic of your choice because you might get distracted and lose focus on the point of view you want to convey.

4. Take photos and do first edits

After practicing, you can start to take photos related to your topic. Remember, you do not have to stick to your original concept. A photo essay is from your perspective or someone else’s, so it should flow naturally. While taking photos, you should ask for a second opinion from someone to see what they think of the progress so far. When I created a photo essay for my photojournalism course, my professor recommended that I take closer photos that portray the lives of college students who commute to campus.

My professor also recommended that we do a first edit and a second edit. I found this beneficial because it allowed us to narrow down the photos we wanted for our final piece. The software that we used was Adobe Lightroom Classic. In Lightroom Classic, all your images are easily spread out to see, and from there, you can manually or automatically edit the photos if you want more exposure, contrast, saturation, shadows, highlights, etc. These editing options are also available on any editing app or your iPhone. A first edit does not have to include captions or any editing. First edits help you see what other pictures you may need for your final piece.

An example of a grid view on Adobe Lightroom Classic. Photo Credit: Adobe

5. Final selections, edits and captions

After doing the first edits, a second will include additional photos you have taken and will have your final selections for our photo essay. This is the moment to do any edits if you chose not to do any during your first edits. Or, this is the time to do all your final editing. You can decide whether you want to crop a photo, add less exposure, choose what angle you want in your final piece, etc. Once this is done, you can start to write captions. The captions should have a short description of the photo and any missing detail you want your audience to know.

Now that you have finished your final edits and captions, you can share your photo essay with your peers, professors and on social media. Your photo essay will engage audiences and help demonstrate your knowledge of your chosen topic. To see an example of a photo essay, click below.

See example

How to Create a Photo Essay