Conceptual Photography: Staging your Ideas

“The camera only facilitates the taking. The photographer must do the giving in order to transform and transcend ordinary reality.”

Ernst Haas

Many photographs aren’t taken, but made. These images are deliberately constructed through a creative process where the conceptualization and intentionality of the project matches the importance of technical knowledge of the photographic medium. At some point, many great photographs require a solid planning process; others happen serendipitously, as a result of the photographer’s ability to react to spontaneous situations. The common factor behind all good photographs (the ones that stick in people’s memories) is that the photographer was actually prepared.

Today we are going to talk about conceptualization in photography, which is the act of forming or building something conceived in the mind that can be expressed by way of photographs. Every photographer has their own way of doing things — and just like any photographer’s workflow, there is no exact recipe for building photographs based on a concept. Nevertheless, we can pinpoint some stages of the commonly accepted creative process. These are steps any photographer can follow to stage their ideas and build meaningful photographs.

Idea Burst

Starting a new project is always a challenge for any photographer, regardless of their level of experience. If there is no challenge, it’s because things are not being done well. Possibly one of the fastest…