Corporate Storytelling in One Photograph
There is an old adage that “a picture is worth a thousand words.” It means that even a complex idea can be clearly conveyed through just one single image or photo. Even though the concept is ancient, it has never been more important than today.
In the contemporary connected, online, noisy, competitive and fast-changing digital revolution, we are constantly bombarded by thousands of images and messages each day. We become immune and find most predictable and boring. But once in a while, a clever image catches our attention.
At my company, News Strategies LLC, we practice online brand journalism for clients. In other words, as working journalists, we use the credibility and influence of legitimate news to tell corporate stories to achieve competitive differentiation and brand leadership for clients. We do corporate storytelling to make a company’s news more appealing.
There are exceptional times when regardless of the story we might write, one great news photo brings a magical quality that reaches out and catches the attention of readers even better than the best-crafted prose.
Let me share an example …
Louisiana oysterman Byron Encalade was telling photojournalist Kerry Maloney about how financially and emotionally difficult the months had been on his family since contamination from the April 2010 BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. The massive oil spill had ruined his oyster business along with the livelihoods of many other people who live and work in the Gulf coast region.
Kerry Maloney's photo of Louisiana oysterman Byron Encalade.
As Encalade was speaking, she captured his image that told the whole story. It conveyed a feeling of despair and human suffering in one digital image.
Maloney is a member of my company’s brand journalism news team. She is a highly accomplished news photographer based in New Orleans, Louisiana, who has a natural instinct about telling stories through photographs. Maloney believes that a photo must be both emotional and personal to connect with a viewer … to capture attention. She engages her subjects in conversation as she is taking photographs and genuinely listens to their stories. She cares about what they say. That human quality of connecting is seen in her photographs.
Photojournalist Kerry Maloney
Her image of Encalade on his oyster boat shows a middle-aged man in pain and struggling for his livelihood. It also shows a man with dignity, pride and courage, I believe. You may see other emotions. Yet, what we share is that our attention is drawn to the image. We see a story and want to know more.
The magic occurs through the technique of impromptu, on-location news photography that is not staged or stiffly posed but rather captures a memorable moment in time that may connect with us on an emotional level and tells a story.
People with digital cameras, visual imagination and creativity now rule the world of photography. What I personally find exciting is the trend toward what is being called “street photography” – a paparazzi style of photography that captures ordinary people going through life. It is contemporary news photography at its best. That is the style of photography that gets our attention and works best with brand journalism to tell stories.
Clever news photographs are essential to corporate storytelling and making lasting memories. Gifted photographers like Kerry Maloney prove it every day.
Related posts:
- What is Corporate Storytelling?
- Defining Corporate Journalism
- Loving the New Styles of Photo Journalism
- Long Live Storytelling
- Consumer Reports Takes on Corporate Bully
Category: Brand Journalism, Featured
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