Every picture tells an “unintended” story

Braving Hurricane Eta, Florida

They say that each picture tells a story, and as a photographer, I have to agree with it. But what they don't explain is that the story being told is different for everybody. It is different for the photographer who took the picture, and each viewer will see the image differently and arrive at different interpretations.

Take this image as an example. This picture was taken during #hurricane ETA when it hit #Florida last year and what we see here is a woman going out to defy the storm as it came ashore. We don't know, nor will we ever know, why she did this. We will also never know who she is. To some, this may be a story of defiance, while for others, this may be a story of lunacy. Yet for me, this is a story of unintended consequences, for I saw the entire spectacle play out, and unbeknownst to her, I took a picture from thousands of miles away and recorded her actions for posterity.

My “Scenes from a World in Lockdown” project that documented the impact of Covid pandemic on a global level is full of images like this, that are a times unexpected but also quite shocking. I frequently use photographic techniques such as long shutters and intentional camera movement to emphasize the core aspects of the scene that unfolded before me. As you follow the release of more images on my blog, you will see that I use these techniques quite liberally.