A thousand words: visual storytelling in 2020
In 1948, at the age of only 30-years-old, photojournalist W. Eugene Smith produced a series of images for Life magazine titled, Country Doctor. The work followed the life and practice of Dr Ernest Ceriani–a 24-hour GP who catered to the medical needs of 2,000 people in the small community of Kremmling, Colorado. While important at the time for highlighting the national shortage of country doctors and the effect this had on remote American communities, today it is seen as ground-breaking within the world of photojournalism. Smith–the eponymous man behind the title of one of photojournalism’s now most coveted prizes–had, through this work, founded the photo essay; photography’s first attempt at telling a coherent story almost solely through photographs.
Since then, the ability for still images to expound on events or a phenomenon that span a period of time has been an idea thoroughly explored–at times culminating in some of the most prescient works of documentary, and at other points falling flat on its face for an ability to convey a story accurately. But since 1948 the landscape of editorial publication has changed dramatically. And hence, largely through the impact of technology, methods for both the dissemination and consumption of photographs and stories have evolved and been drastically altered. We rely on photographs for our ability to understand events more now than ever before. So,
