A photo gallery is a powerful form of storytelling. A picture paints a thousand words, and putting pictures together can help you convey your story in one of the most engaging and compelling ways. But a good photo gallery is more than just creating a combination of different photos, just like putting words next to words does not automatically generate a story. You have to contemplate which words to add, where to put them, and how each of them can complement one another to convey the messages. Creating a good photo gallery will require similar efforts.
Here are the five tips from the Global Business Journalism Program to bring your photo gallery as a medium of storytelling to the next level:
1. A photo gallery won’t be effective without a consistent theme
Similar to any other form of storytelling, a consistent theme is an important part of a compelling photo gallery. Your photos shouldn’t be all over the place. They should be connected by a clear theme. Your theme can be a central topic surrounding the images, a subject your gallery focuses on, or a big message you want to convey.
A good theme helps create meanings and emotional connections with your audience. It’s the reason why you start the gallery, and also the reason why your viewers should spend time seeing it.
In the example below, you can see how each picture fits into the theme of a "Hanoi collective zone."
An example of a photo gallery with a consistent theme
2. Organize your photos to create a dramatic arc
A clear theme is important, but it's not enough to keep your audience from clicking away after seeing the first few photos. You need a dramatic arc with a proper opening, rise, climax, and ending to keep your viewers engaged and lead them through each part of your gallery. You can sequence your photos in logical or chronological order, whichever helps tell your story the better.
An example of a photo gallery organized in chronological order
3. Start the gallery with your strongest photo candidate
The first impression is important on most occasions. This is not an exception. Your first picture should be eye-catching, memorable, and most of all, it should tell a story. A strong start will help attract the viewers and assure them of the quality of the rest of your photos.
4. Self-control is important when it comes to selecting photos
It’s completely understandable that you’ll have a hard time finalizing the list of photos to be included in the final version of your gallery, especially when you’re who took the pictures. To you, each photo must have its own stories and strengths, hence can’t be left out. But too many photos telling the same part of the story with only minor differences may bore the viewers.
Enough is enough, but what is enough is for you to figure out. Some stories may require a larger number of photos to tell the whole picture, some stories don't. You’ll have to be your own judge.
5. Make sure that all photos are on the same level of quality
One single poor-quality photo may be enough to drive your viewers away. You’ll have to be very strict and careful with the photo selection process to make sure all of your photos are of high quality and publishable.
You won't want a blurring, out-of-focus image like this to distract your audience.
Some simple photo editing techniques like cropping or adjusting the brightness may make a huge difference between a good and a bad photo.
6. Text matters even in a photo gallery
While the stars of your photo gallery should be, of course, your photos, most of the time these stars will need a little help from the text. Adding captions can increase the value of your gallery because not all pictures are self-explanatory. A short caption will help the audience understand your theme and storyline better.
Viewers can't always understand the stories you want to tell through the images. Some short captions may give them a little help.
However, remember to keep the caption concise. You don't want to steal the spotlight away from your photos!
7. Always be extra careful with legal issues
If your gallery consists of photos that are not taken by you, you need to make sure you own the rights to use and publish them. And even if you have the rights to do so, don’t forget to give credit to the original owners of the photos.
>>> Here are some websites with free stock photos that you may want to take a look:
Nguyen Ha Linh