DOCUMENTARY PHOTOGRAPHY

Documentary photography can have big overlaps with portraiture (individual and corporate) and events. A portrait can be either a single image or a related set of images telling a story of an individual, a business or a community. In this case the set of images form a portrait. See the Felicity Straker Graham slideshow.

If a photographic record is taken of an event in a suitably sequenced fashion to tell an absorbing story of that event, then that event is photographed in a documentary manner.

To complicate things a little further still, it is also possible to do a single documentary image. Put a person in tee shirt and jeans, in a studio with no distinguishing props and we may have a straight portrait. Put that same person in their working clothes and place of work and take a single image that portrays an aspect of who that person is and we have a single documentary portrait image, also sometimes known as an environmental portrait. To get the best results it is important to recognise and agree from the start that a documentary outcome is required.

To discuss a project, or for any enquiries regarding our documentary photography services, please email us or call 028 4372 7171