Picture Story: Inspiration

This photo is by Matt Slaby, not me...although I wish it was mine.

For my capstone class, Picture Story, I was assigned to comb the interwebs for inspiration. While I was perusing for picture stories, I looked through work at Luceo, a well-known photo collective comprised of young photographers, all of whom seem to be doing some pretty interesting work. I was particularly interested in Matt Slaby's essay "The Last Good Kiss: A Lovesong to the American West

I was drawn to this essay for a number of reasons. I took a class on western films last semester and the topic of discussion has always been about the myth of the frontier. There's such a mythos that surrounds the American West, even know. I still picture gunslingers and cowhands, even though I know that ideal was romanticized in the first place. The photos in Slaby's essay are a mix of the expected and the unexpected. There are expected shots of rugged men on horses, but they are interspersed with photos of pure surprises. In a way, each picture is its very own short story.

I also chose this piece because I'm intrigued by essays and knowing how make one that is interesting and cohesive. The structure of a picture story sometimes seems stifling to me: opener, portrait, transition, closer, what do I need, what am I missing?. The essay format seems to leave more room for breath and creativity, but I'm still struggling in how to execute this storytelling device in a successful way.