Resource

ARTICLE

Resource

ARTICLE

Creating a Photographic Story of Place: Erika Larsen

Creating a Photographic Story of Place: Erika Larsen

Create your own Story of Place with original photographs you take with Erika Larsen—a National Geographic photographer—as your guide.

Grades

5 - 12+

Subjects

Professional Learning, Storytelling, Photography

















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Creating a photographic story is a process that takes time, research, creativity, and personal reflection. This video series allows you—and eventually your students—to practice and develop the attitudes and skills of an explorer and become a storyteller. Guided by Erika Larsen, you will develop your own photographic story—a story that means something to you and that could inspire others to take action.

The process is broken down into six steps as illustrated by each of the following videos.

1. Developing Your Story of Place

In this video, Erika introduces us to her “place” for this assignment: a small town in Alaska near the Bering Sea where a rapid permafrost melt has revealed artifacts from an ancient village.

2. Photographing Your Story of Place

In this video, Erika discusses how she approaches trying to capture—connect with—her place through the camera.

3. Editing Your Story of Place

In this video, Erika Larsen begins to shape her story by selecting photographs that she believes will most effectively tell an impactful story.

4. Finishing Your Story of Place

In this video, Erika begins to edit each individual photograph before sequencing her selected photographs into a story.

5. Writing to Your Images

In this video, Erika Larsen talks about how one’s choice of words helps the photographer shape the viewer’s experience with the photographs.

6. Sharing Your Story of Place

In this last video, Erika Larsen presents her final story to the community around which she crafted the story. For Erika, it’s this dynamic that helps to bring the story to life; it’s this relationship that gives her story magic and impact.

We invite educators to register in the free self-paced online course “Storytelling for Impact in Your Classroom: Photography”. This course is one in a series of five courses of the National Geographic Education program Storytelling for Impact. The course will provide educators with a deep understanding of the power of storytelling, the strength of photography as a visual tool with which to tell a story, and the value of photography as an instructional tool in their classroom.

"Storytelling for Impact in Your Classroom: Photography” was developed in partnership with Adobe, a champion for creativity and the power of storytelling.

Media Credits

The audio, illustrations, photos, and videos are credited beneath the media asset, except for promotional images, which generally link to another page that contains the media credit. The Rights Holder for media is the person or group credited.

Online Course Design and Productions
Dan Byerly, National Geographic Society, National Geographic Society
Elizabeth Wolzak, National Geographic Society
Executive Producer
Vanessa Serrao, National Geographic Society
Editor
Monica Pinzon
Educator Reviewers
Jordan Budisantoso, Educator, 2020 Teacher Advisory Council, National Geographic Society
Michael Hernandez, Media Arts Teacher and Consultant 2020 Teacher Advisory Council, National Geographic Society
Leon Tynes, Educator, 2020 Teacher Advisory Council, National Geographic Society
Expert Reviewer
Rachael Strecher, National Geographic Society, National Geographic Society
Photographs By
Erika Larsen
Video Producer
Devin Swanson
Series Producer
Chris Dye
Cinematographer
Pablo Durana
#GenGeo Reviewers
Andrew Brennan
Simon Handelman
Merrit Jones
Afi Tagnedji
Assistant Camera
Carina Hessmer
Production Managers
Ashley Green, National Geographic Society
Carmen Radke
Associate Producer
Ruben Rodriguez Perez
Web Producer
André Gabrielli, National Geographic Society
Special Thanks
Warren Jones, Qanirtuuq Corporation, Wanirtuuq Corporation
Rick Knecht, Nunalleq Culture and Archaeology Center, Nunalleq Culture and Archaeology Center
Quinhagak, Alaska
other
Last Updated

March 24, 2023

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