Images That Tell a Story
Visuals are some of the most crucial aspects of any project, often giving a deeper meaning beyond what text can say.
There are other times, when the image itself is the story, conveying all the meaning through a well-timed photo, or a masterfully created painting.
In this article, we’ll show examples of great images that tell an entire story themselves, and ask what we believe happened before and after.
1. Holiday Baking
In this first image, we see a presumed grandmother with her grandson. Both are currently decorating cookies, with the grandson having more fun eating them than actually decorating. As they are currently using red and green frosting as well, we can assume they are making these cookies for Christmas.
It looks like the grandmother was talking, with her possibly explaining what they need to do to decorate, as well as trying to make sure the grandson doesn’t eat all the cookies before they are done. As they both have aprons on, we can assume they baked together before this and kept them on to stay clean from stray frosting.
From this, we can assume that after this image was taken, they continued decorating the frostingless cookies in the front of the frame, with the grandson eating his cookies as he decorates them.
2. Telling Stories
In this drawing of three boys sitting around a lantern, we can see that the boy on the left is telling the other two a story. For me, the dark setting around the boys makes me believe it is a scary one, as both also seem quite invested in what the teller is saying.
The fact that they are sitting around a lantern could be that before this drawing, the boys had lost power, or had gone to a treehouse or basement and taken a lantern with them. They could have also gotten back from school, as they all are wearing a uniform-type outfit.
After this, we can assume the boys traded stories, with each telling a harrowing tale, before needing to split and head back home.
3. Hiroshima
Here shows a destroyed city, decimated by the atomic bomb, with the sole frame left of a building. Clearly from war times, it shows the destruction associated with battle and the loss of lives that comes with such a battle. The people who remain sit lost and filled with remorse, knowing that the city will never be the same again.
Before the battle, we can assume the city was bustling, with people filling the streets and restaurants, homes, and businesses filled with life.
After the destruction, there will be a long time of solitude and cleanup, with people trying to pull together whatever is left. But soon, the city will rebuild, and become a hub for life once again, teeming with live like before the war.
4. Sunset in a Field
It’s a beautiful day in summer, you just finished up your last shift and clocked out. Luckily you work in town so you start your walk home. Your town is pretty rural so there isn’t much around, just your neighbors and the many farms that surround them.
As you take the last turn and start walking up your drive, you see the sun perfectly crest the field, highlighting the wheat that has grown all season. It is one of those moments that make you remember why you live here, and how even when life seems bleak, there is always a silver lining.
You finish the walk-up and get inside. Time to relax. You start a kettle and kick back with some tea, looking out the window at the field. As the sun finishes its descent, you pull out a book and pick up where you left off.
5. Playing Basketball
The city no longer looks the same as it used to, with businesses closing up left and right, and people moving out to find better jobs. It’s upsetting, how could it all turn so bleak?
The locals, however, always try to make light in a dark spot, with kids setting up makeshift basketball hoops and other games for people to play with. Though the city has changed, it doesn't mean that there isn’t life.
The community will struggle, as it dwindles in numbers and more and more leave the area. But, it doesn’t mean there is no hope, as there are always ways to bounce back and take a shot.
6. Florida Hurricane
They said the storm would be bad, but you never believed it would be this rough. The winds howled, and water rose up higher than you’ve ever seen it, even breaking inside and onto your first floor. Luckily there is some high ground you can shelter in until it passes.
After a harrowing night, you emerge in the morning to utter destruction. While your home wasn’t too badly damaged, your neighbors weren’t so lucky. Houses blown straight into the canal sheds pulled up from the ground and thrown around, and debris from who knows where littered the ground.
Though the damage was massive, the community is strong, working together to get homes cleaned up, and finding shelter for those who can’t return. Though it won’t be the last storm, we know what to do now to protect ourselves.
7. Cliffside
The trip is booked! A hike up through the Rocky Mountains was always on your bucket list, though you never believed it was possible, not with your busy schedule and night classes. But nonetheless, you and your girlfriend hop on the plane and start your accent. It takes two days but finally, you are there.
The view is gorgeous. Everything you ever wanted it to be. You set up your tent so that when you wake up, you are greeted by the amazing view of the valley. It was a perfect trip with your significant other, and you wouldn’t have brought anyone else.
Once the peak was thoroughly explored, you started your descent, much easier than the way up to add. It was one of your proudest moments, something that you can’t wait to tell your friends.
Conclusion
Visuals are key to the way we live, and images capture these in hopes of recounting the time that’s passed. These stories a meaningful, and even though you might not know the story behind an image, it doesn’t mean there isn’t one there.
There are so many people living their own lives and having their own experiences, and images are a way to jump into their stories and hear what they lived through.
Blackwell, R., & Bargfeld, L. (2023, August 31). Residents pick through the rubble of lost homes and scattered belongings in Hurricane Idalia’s wake. Sun Sentinel. https://www.sun-sentinel.com/2023/08/31/residents-pick-through-the-rubble-of-lost-homes-and-scattered-belongings-in-hurricane-idalias-wake/
Davies, D. (2020, August 19). “fallout” tells the story of the journalist who exposed the “Hiroshima cover-up.” NPR. https://www.npr.org/2020/08/19/903826363/fallout-tells-the-story-of-the-journalist-who-exposed-the-hiroshima-cover-up
Picard, A. (2019, July 24). Paintings that tell a story. Alain J Picard. https://www.picardstudio.com/blog/2019/7/23/paintings-that-tell-a-story
Rundback, B. (2016, November 14). Telling stories. The Rockwell Center for American Visual Studies. https://rockwellcenter.org/essays-illustration/telling-stories/
Williams, E. C. (2019, August 28). This D.C. photographer captured “the last of Chocolate City” in powerful black-and-white vignettes. DCist. https://dcist.com/story/19/12/09/this-d-c-photographer-captured-the-last-of-chocolate-city-in-powerful-black-and-white-vignettes/