Welcome to a new series on the toy photographers blog called: The Six Image Narrative. We want to give you the opportunity to be featured on the blog and showcase your own six image narrative. What is a six image narrative you ask? It’s a story that can only be told in six images.

We realize that not everyone is a word smith. We also realize that time is short and that we don’t always have time to devote to reading a 2,000 word blog post.  So Brett and I decided to try something new on the blog and showcase even more photography!

The Concept

The idea for the six image narrative came out of a LensWork podcast I listened to recently. It’s a variation on a contest they’re running called “Seeing in Sixes“. The idea behind this new series is to create a six image narrative that somehow tells a greater, more complete story than one image can. Your story can be linear story, it can be a thematic story, it can be a story held together by technique. Whatever method you use, by combing six images, you’re able to tell a new story.  The hope is that you create a story that has a greater impact than only one single photo can have.

Even though we’re a photo blog, I know we can get a little wordy. This new series is designed to be a respite. We want to create a little oasis thats only goal is to spotlight toy photography excellence. We’ve been talking about concepts like the Red Thread, creating meaning through metaphor in your imagery and the importance of telling stories for years now. This is a chance for you to show us, and yourself, what these concepts look like in practice.

The Challenge

You’re probably thinking this is easy! No brainer! I have six images that are a shoe in for this. And you know what? I thought the same thing. But when I tried to complete this challenge myself, the idea of my work didn’t match what was actually in my image files.

I always thought I took a lot of photos of boats and reflections on water. But when I looked through my work from the past three years to find six appropriate images, I didn’t have enough to work from. Weird how your mind plays tricks on you.

I’m a big believer in looking back over my work and finding connections. I enjoy discovering those unconscious threads that are often simply lying around waiting to be discovered. I also feel that in a world of social media where we’re presenting single images that we need to create opportunities to make a larger statement. And that is what this challenge is all about. I want to encourage you to do the same.

Maybe it will lead to a book you can give to friends or family, or a coffee shop show, or a contest entry. You never know what you have until you look through your work and create a series with intention. Sometimes this means creating new images to flesh out your story. Or maybe this challenge will send you in a completly new direction. Maybe you will be like me and discover that you aren’t taking the photos you thought you were!

The Guidelines

If you would like to participate in the Six Image Narrative, here are the guidelines:

  • Six images, no more and no less.
  • There needs to be a clear connection between the images. (Style, content, story, etc.)
  • The sum of the group is greater than the individual image.
  • Bonus points for allegory
  • Quality images. We want to see your best work.
  • Short titles are allowed
  • You may include one to two paragraphs of explanation that can include: quotes, poem, narrative, description, etc.
  • This is a toy photography blog, so don’t forget the toys!
  • The work is your own.

Once you’ve created your six image narrative head over to our Contact page and drop me an email with a link to where I can view your images. This can be done easily through Google Photos or your preferred photo sharing service.

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my six image narrative

We hope you’re as excited about this new series as we are! Since we’re a photography blog, the idea of setting aside a day a week to showcase the work of the community is really exciting to us. So get those thinking caps (or in Brett’s case his undies) on and start looking through your images! We’re looking forward to reviewing your submissions and sharing them with the community.

Shelly

If you have any questions, please leave them in the comments.

Don’t forget to subscribe to our e-mail list where you will receive a weekly roundup of the weeks posts.