A Picture is Worth a Thousand Words
The Storytelling Power of Photography
I was awed by the beauty of many of the images as I scrolled through the 2025 Sony Photography Prize winners. While some images seemed like finished stories, others were intriguing cues that invited the viewer to wonder about what might have transpired in the past or what could happen next.
Consider Rajeev Gaikwad's photograph from India, which shows colorful bags dangling from a tree like spirits trapped in its limbs. Another example, Renzer Rev. Damaso's winning shot for the Philippines, captures an exciting moment as a basketball hovers on the brink. These images made me ponder how photography, like writing, enable us to stop time, re-examine passing moments from numerous viewpoints.
Writing and photography are both acts of preservation. A well-crafted sentence can evoke a place just as vividly as a photograph. Whether it's Ieva Gaile's modest yet appealing photograph of a cabbage resting on crates of bottles in Lithuania or Mubina Fayzullaeva's photograph of a person walking with balloons in Uzbekistan, both express emotion, movement, and the essence of a moment.
Photography additionally uncovers a place in our natural world, offering a glimpse of places that many of us no longer have access to. Physical limitations, the speed of life, and suburban development might prevent us from enjoying moments in nature. But these photographer's have found its beauty, reminding us of what we've lost or what needs to be discovered again.
Then there are the people in these winning photographs—silent protagonists who ignite our curiosity. Who is the person framed by the red window in Nepal, photographed by Rabik Upadhayay? Are they expecting someone? Or are they simply gazing at the night? What about Nsikanabasi Effiong's image of the Nigerian couple on the motorcycle? Are they siblings, lovers, or longtime pals traveling together? And is the man in Sri Lanka simple having some fun with the photographer, Sasindu Pramuditha, performing for an invisible audience or is he simply feeling pure joy?These portraits, much like great character-driven writing, hint at entire lives beyond the frame.
To convey a story, photography does not need to be complex or detailed. It can be as simple and basic as a striped down sentence. Take this clean, powerful, black-and-white silhouette of divers on a diving board in Croatia by Marko Buntić. Like a masterfully composed language, a single frame can convey all the necessary information.
Maybe that's why writing and photography complement each other. Both are narrative techniques that condense the breadth of experience into something we can remember—something that stays with us long after we've turned the page or moved our eyes away from the picture.
Therefore, the next time you stumble across a photograph that inspires you, consider the tale it tells. Allow the image to motivate you. Sometimes a single moment that has been captured and written down is all that is needed to propel your story forward or put the powerful end to it.
A reminder: Upcoming, romance writing contests:
One of the best photographs I’ve seen was hanging in a gallery in Hawaii. Someone snapped a picture of the Ironman swimmers as they raced through the water. I liked it because the photographer took the picture from below. The angle was amazing. The price tag was more than I could afford. I haven’t found a print of it yet. Maybe they didn’t make any.
Yes, it is things like this, something that we have never seen before or never taken the time to look at that capture our imagination. Thank you for taking the time to comment, Ellen!