Bite Size Comms

In Public Relations and communications, we often discuss the importance of storytelling. It is less clear how to achieve the goal of being a great storyteller. Propp’s theory of using differing characters (for example, hero and villain) works well for a novel. Harmon’s story circle theory (from comfort to need, to struggle, and back to comfort) is best suited for films. It is to famous photographers that I would like to turn for inspiration.

Although a photographer may shoot many pictures, they really have just one chance – one picture – that will be seen as great. That is similar to PR/comms. One social media post, one web page, one thought leadership article. The great photographer Henri Cartier-Bresson said, “My passion has never been for photography in itself but for the possibility – through forgetting yourself – of recording in a fraction of a second the emotion of the subject, and the beauty of the form; that is, a geometry awakened by what’s offered”.

A master photographer will convey a story through a picture. Above all, to create emotional impact. Another great photographer, Thorsten Overgaard, talks about evoking people’s emotions. These photographers think about what hits you first when you look at their pictures. It is the emotional impact. That’s what helps to sell their images. 

First example. Think of the Napalm Girl photograph by AP photographer Huynh Cong ‘Nick’ Ut of crying children, a young girl naked, walking down a street in Vietnam after a napalm bomb attack by the US. That picture helped to change the course of the war in 1972. By the way, the photographer took the girl to hospital before he delivered the film to AP. After 14 months in hospital, she survived. Nick won a Pulitzer Prize for the image.

Second example. The photograph of the young dead boy, Alan Kurdi, washed up on a Turkish beach. The boat the boy was in had capsized. He was a refugee trying to reach Greece with his family. The image was taken by Nilüfer Demir, a Turkish photojournalist. She said her motivation for taking the picture was “to make his outcry heard”. It was on the front pages of many UK and European newspapers. In response to the image, even the British government temporarily altered its anti-migrant rhetoric. 

There are, of course, many other examples, if this has gained your interest. Tank Man by Jeff Widener in Tiananmen Square of one man bravely halting a Chinese tank, Falling Man by Richard Drew of a man falling from the World Trade Centre after the terrorist attack, and Raising the Flag by Joe Rosenthal of US soldiers during WWII. Among others. There is a common thread in these images. They capture a single, emotionally charged moment that symbolises social or political issues, leading to immediate public and governmental responses, sometimes resulting in policy changes or increased humanitarian aid. Many have become enduring symbols of protest, tragedy, resilience, or hope.

Composition is important to the leading photographers. What they include in the shot – the framing of the subject, use of light and their attention to detail that invites the viewer to step into the picture. Be a part of it. Empathy with the subject is also important. Feeling the subject’s emotions to convey them authentically. Reflecting on this, we can apply most of those factors to our work in public relations. We frame a story and consider its details. We want our readers to feel part of our story, to empathise with the people or subject. We often talk about authenticity.

Yes, there are common phrases like “Every picture tells a story,” which was used in Charlotte Brontë’s Jane Eyre in 1847, and “A picture is worth a thousand words” from the early 20th-century advertising industry in the US. However, it is the idea of “emotional impact” that I feel resonates most with public relations practice. We aim to evoke strong feelings, moods, or reactions in our audiences, just as the leading photographers do, to change opinions, attitudes, feelings or behaviour. We want our story to resonate on a personal level. We aim to connect with and engage our audiences. Emotional impact.

[Image of man using a camera by Christina Ambalavanar on Unsplash]