New Skills for the Modern Storyteller

Stanley Leary put up a nice compilation of the skills now being asked for in job descriptions for photographers. To me, there is nothing surprising in the job listings – it’s an evolution that’s been going on for the last decade or so.

But the key thing he points out is that, regardless of the skill set, being able to find and tell stories is at the heart of what we do. I always tell my students that photography is easy, photojournalism is hard. Where to point the camera and when to push the button are the two most difficult things to learn and, perhaps, teach.

At the end of his post he lists his top five ways to improve your portfolio, but I think if you can nail the first one, you’re well on your way:

1. Find stories that have strong emotional pull. Visuals are their strongest when conveying emotions.

That’s it. Make pictures that connect with people, that have impact on their lives, and you can do this.