REPORTAGE

Current Photojournalism Projects:
“Living in the Shadows of Society”
“The Meridian Highway”
“Vanishing Texas”

For me photography affords the opportunity to capture a moment in time, to enter into the story and to make it part of a larger story; my own as well as that of the viewer— to give voice to the story within the photo. As a documentary photojournalist, it is the ability to take the individual story found in each photo and combine them in a way that tells a larger story with as few words as possible.

I have come to discover that their is a big difference between writing a story and illustrating it with photos and telling a story with photos. The latter is photojournalism. One photo that tells a story in a way that invites you into the story is photojournalism.

Combining such photos may tell even a more powerful story. Thematic photo books and creating videos out of stills can be powerful tools. One less used, but just as powerful, I think, is the storyboard, that is, combining photos in a poster-like effect to emphasis the overall story. Although this is a medium that I have done little with lately, I think there is untapped potential in the storyboard concept that needs to be explored. Done right, storyboards can become “posters for awareness and change.” Perhaps there is even a place for the combination of several storyboards into a book.

Frank A. Mills
Round Rock, TX
June 12, 2012