I’ve been looking at some doc photography work that’s currently circulating the web, and I’m noticing that they all seem to lack a clear story. I don’t connect with any of the people in the images, and I don’t learn anything about the subject matter, which is generally poverty.
But what about poverty? What about wealth inequality? How much under minimum wage are migrant workers working for? We don’t know. These bodies of work have some good images, but they seem to lack a clear narrative. It’s almost as if the photographers didn’t get to know their subjects all that well. A good photo essay is hard to create. We see very few photo essays these days.
There are many problems with getting to know a subject well. That’s why we don’t see much TRUE social doc work being produced these days. The investment is just too much for most people.
With social doc, camera issues take a back seat. People seem to be coming to doc photography with a “street photography” mindset – BIG mistake. You can’t think about photography as fine art, you can’t think just about single images, and… you have to write text.