Documentary photography: telling stories with the camera

The genre of documentary photography can sometimes be difficult to grasp, as a whole host of other photographic genres fall into this category. In general, documentary photography can be described as any form of photography where the approach is primarily to take pictures that show the world as it is. However, documentary photography is more about the approach and technique than a specific subject, as is the case with street photography or war photography. It is about telling stories with an image, creating awareness for a certain topic or helping to better understand the world around us.

The emergence of documentary photography

The beginnings of documentary photography, which from the very beginning was all about depicting people, date back to the 19th century. The central themes of the early days were social grievances and problems such as poverty and child labor. From the very beginning, documentary photographers such as Jacob August Riis and Lewis Hine acted as chroniclers of their time, capturing social, political and cultural events and providing an insight into the lives of others. Their images were not only documentary, but also strongly socially engaged.

At its core, documentary photography from its early years was primarily concerned with depicting reality as objectively as possible. Documentary photographers strove to create authentic and unembellished images that reflected the complexity of human experience. They documented both everyday scenes and significant historical events.

Documentary photography in the 20th century

Documentary photography rose to prominence as a genre with the documentation of the effects of the Great Depression in the USA in the 1930s, as undertaken by photographer Dorothea Lange, for example. In the haunting images of unemployed farmers and starving families, the social aspirations of documentary photography became very clear. The impressive images also had a profound influence on politics and social awareness.

In the years that followed, further trends emerged within documentary photography. Photojournalism also developed in the 20th century, which went hand in hand with a stronger integration of photography into the news sector and whose subjects were primarily wars and other political events. Another trend that emerged during this period was humanist photography, for example, which focused on the individual fate of people and was concerned with documenting life in different cultures.

The power of storytelling

The strength of documentary photography lies in its ability to tell stories that touch us emotionally and make us think. A single image can say more than a thousand words and give us an insight into another world. Through the selection of motifs, perspectives and the interplay of light and shadow, documentary photographers can direct the viewer's attention and create a certain mood.

The role of the photographer

In contrast to many other photographic genres, where the photographer himself deliberately takes a back seat and becomes a silent observer behind the camera, in documentary photography he consciously takes an active part in the action. He engages with the protagonists of his shots and builds up a relationship with them in order to be able to portray them more intimately in their own context.

This requires a great deal of sensitivity in order to act with ethical integrity and not violate the privacy of the people you get very close to for the pictures. Sensitivity and empathy are therefore among the core skills of a documentary photographer. At the same time, documentary photographers are always compelling storytellers who depict their protagonists in a way that is both informative and entertaining and allow viewers to immerse themselves completely in the context depicted through different representations.

Themes of documentary photography

If you want to develop your skills and try your hand at the genre of documentary photography, you can actually choose any subject from everyday life. After all, the topics that documentary photography approaches through the lens are as diverse as life itself. Depending on how committed you are, you can devote yourself to more or less political topics. The less controversial areas of documentary photography include street photography or landscape photography. It also includes shots of everyday life or cultural events such as traditional festivals or rituals.

If you can imagine your own images in the context of a certain activism, you should focus on traditional core themes of documentary photography such as social injustice, war and conflict or environmental problems and the effects of climate change.

The digital revolution: new opportunities and challenges

The advent of digital photography in the 1990s fundamentally changed documentary photography. Since then, digital cameras have enabled faster and easier image processing and distribution. Social media and other online platforms also offer documentary photographers and amateurs new opportunities to present their work to a wide audience.

Today, you no longer need a darkroom to share your images, and documentary photographers no longer need to count the number of images left on their film. Instead, we have experienced a democratization of photography with digital photography, because today anyone can take pictures quickly and easily with their smartphone and share them with people all over the world. This is particularly evident in the phenomenon of "citizen journalism", where every citizen can act as a reporter and document events in real time. This is an important addition to the work of professional documentary photographers, who cannot always be on the spot immediately.

However, the digital revolution is not only accompanied by advantages and new opportunities for the genre of documentary photography. The increasingly easy manipulation of digital images, not least in the age of artificial intelligence, raises many ethical questions and forces us to question our basic trust in the truthfulness of images in a completely new way.

Conclusion

Documentary photography is more than just an appealing and exciting way of taking photos. It can bring us closer to the stories and lifestyles of people who live in a completely different world with which the reality of our lives has no points of contact. Documentary photography can therefore be a powerful tool to change the world. Through storytelling, documentary photographers can inspire us to broaden our perspective, become more compassionate and advocate for a better future. Since its development in the 19th century, the genre has helped to influence public opinion and inspire important social change.

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