Sometimes when I see art or photography described as great storytelling, I wonder if I’m supposed to see a really obvious story that everyone else sees.
More fruitful, I think, is to imagine one’s own story to go with each image.
There’s plenty of fodder in two sets of photos on the theme “Trouble in Paradise” by Christoph Martin Schmid. One set is labeled “Day,” the other, “Night.”
In fact, one of my favorite storytelling activities is to use an image or set of images as a story prompt. Without considering artistic intent, I like to conjure my own story for each image.
<
Now you have hit on one of my favorite topics. Art and storytelling. There are paintings that tell powerful stories, but they require lots of work on the part of the viewer. The observer has to become involved in the painting. You can't sit on the sidelines and have the story told to you. You have to take an active role and create the story you see.
I have written dozens of what I call story poems in response to paintings. A few of these can be seen on my website. Years ago, I wrote an article on how to read haiku. I compared it to looking at a painting or photograph. Unlike a novelist who tells the whole story, a painting, a photograph and a haiku require the input of the audience. The article is also on my website.
http://web.mac.com/hgking
That's awesome, Harley. I love the idea of your story poems. You are so right that "You can't sit on the sidelines and have the story told to you. You have to take an active role and create the story you see." I think a lot of people have that misconception about art -- that it's up to the artist to explain the story -- and they get impatient if the story isn't obvious. The answer as you point out is that the beholder needs to get actively involved.
Would it be possible to get a direct link to your haiku article? Also do you make any distinction on your StoryPoems page about which ones are in response to paintings?