1. Topic: At first and before any further thoughts what pictures you might need, you should think about the topic. What is the story? What do you wanna tell with the pictures? I always try to make that as clear as possible to myself to be sure what i need.

2. Research: If we start looking at it even before the shoot, do your research to get to know as much as possible about the story. It gives you the freedom to move and react more while you shoot. Normally, as long as you do documentary photography, it is not possible and also not the best way to start with a clear idea in your head, so that you just shoot what you thought before. That leads to stereotypes or at least single perspectives. I always try to be as open for everything what happens. I once was shooting a story on monks in Laos. I had this pictures in my head of them being so puristic, sleeping on the hard ground, eating once a day, of them praying and so on. And this was true in one way, but there were many more stories. That Phra, one of the monks had a computer and a english dictionary in his room. And while i was shooting suddenly a cellphone rang –  of one of the monks. They started taking pictures of me as well with their phones. And at the end they gave me their mail adresses to sent them the pictures. Not really what i was thinking of before. But it was good to do the reasearch as it allowed me to see that in perspective and react on that.

3. Angle: Now you have done your shoot and it is about thinking about what you will need for this story. What are the major parts you want to tell? Where should it lead the attention to? Do you have a starting point and an end? Are there different angles to tell the story? Think outside the box. Try new stuff, new point of views (not only in the pictures).

4. Length: A photoessay, especially when presented in the web should normally not be longer than 15 pictures is my experience so far. We are used to a big amount of speed and it is hard to keep the attention, even when you have great pictures. A photoessay with ten really good pictures that combine all important aspects to make a far better story then when you put in your 30 best pictures, but they repeat the same aspects. Really try to think again: What tells the story? What is important for the story?

5. Parts: Think about the essay as a story. Every good story has a starting point, a body and a conclusion. In the classic photoessay this is shaped with a couple of different shots you include.

The establishing shot gives you an introduction and shows you where the story is taking place. Most of the times is is a wide-angle shot.

The medium shot is leading into the subject. It tells you more about it and how it belongs to the enviroment.

The close-up is a classic detail shot, giving you important single parts of the story.

The portrait is bringing the subject close and personal.

The moment is giving you special moments of the story. It could tell a little story in itself or be part of the bigger picture.

The closer is the shot that sums up the essay and leaves you with a thought or a conclusion.

This different parts don’t have to be in every photoessay in general. They are more giving you a direction what might help to tell the story, even when most photoessays at least have a establishing shot and a conclusion. Talking about the speed of consum in the internet, it is important to catch the attention of the viewer directly. So maybe try switching the parts. Make your first shot not the establishing shot, but something like a ‘hook shot’ that pulls the viewer directly in the story. As always experiment with that.

6. Captions: The captions are another important part of the photoessay most of the times. I always try to have captions that do not tell what we already see in the picture. Let the captions add what your picture might not tell, like the names of people, their background or important information that could not be photographed. The captions allow you to give the story the last precision.

7. Experiment: All what i wrote before should be seen as a starting point. As there are thousand approaches to tell a story, if classic linear or non-linear, you have also all freedoms in your photoessay. Maybe you want to start with a certain moment and tell the story from there with what happend before and where it leads to. Or  you mix different perspectives. Try it out. At the end it is important what tells the story best.

The classroom for the first day of the workshop reminds me of my old classroom i had my physics classes in school in. And i’m quite excited to start with the workshop. The students who attend are studying on pretty diverse topics here at the university. From biologie to cityplanning to IT to journalism. My hope ist hat through that the ideas of what they wanna tell is as diverse as their interests.
We start the first morning with some classic teaching about photography itself. Not based on the equipment, but focused on what you photograph and what makes a picture more interesting. The point of view, wideangle, close-up, the light, the moment. All the basic stuff, i learned and still improve about in my photographic life. The students take that input and try all the theoretical stuff i teach them out in exercises. It’s great to see that same excitment in their eyes as i had when i grabed a camera fort he first time to photograph and not just flick some pictures.
The lunchbreak in the nearby cantina is short. To much to try out and still there is the part about storytelling with pictures left. Coming from the picture itself, how do you tell stories with it? How do you arrange objects to tell the story? How do we look at pictures? What is a photoessay? All those questions seem sometimes to be a bit abstract, but also quite interesting to the students. And it also the key to the last part of our todays workshop day – the brainstorming for ideas for stories. After that the students will head out to shoot for three days in small groups of two or three photoessays of the stories.
Maybe it was a bit unclear, what is possible in three days and what is possible with pictures when you have never done that before. At least, after the brainstorming, i’m facing stories bigger and more difficult to cover than everything i thought about. Infant mortality for instance, a great topic, but how to photograph without a clear vision. Health in Rwanda. Quite the same. For the next hour we discuss about the different ideas and try to bring them down on a possible level. I don’t know what i expected, but at least less serious stories. At the end they head out to cover topics like poverty, the plans of the goverment to rebuild more or less whole Butare ort he streetkids.
For the next three days the students are out, photographing, gaining information about their topics, all to put together a photoessy of ten to twelve pictures at the end. We meet in the evenings for discussing what they have done so far, what might be missing and how to maybe inprove on the pictures. And the interest in the feedback is huge and some seem to get more and more in their stories. Thoughts of helping the poor family one of the groups visits over the day rise, ideas what aspects might also be intersting for the story. And even when i’m a bit sceptical sometimes if i don’t want a bit too much, something what might not be possible after one day of workshop, they show me something different.
The last day of the workshop starts with a little delay. The projector is at a conference and only available from 5 pm. An hour running around and we have another one. One of the great things in Rwanda is that there is always a way. We had that in the preparation sometimes and even when we back home in Europe where getting nervous, at the end our local coordinator Chris arranged everything, most of the time with no costs. Thanks for that again, mate!
In the meanwhile the students started with putting together their stories. Choosing the pictures and ordering them, making descriptions. All that takes time and as some used the possibilities of digital photography quite intensively, they had sometimes more than 200 pictures to choose from. The lunch break has to get prosponed a couple of times, but at the end all groups have their essays ready to present.
But before the final presentation in the afternoon we come together for on last hour to talk about social media and how to use it. An overview on the different plattforms, the possibilities and how to use the project website are the topics, following the thought that where is the need for great stories and pictures, if no one sees them.
At three, with a couple of more spectators, we start with the final presentation of the essays. I’m quite happy, how deep some groups dived in the stories and their encouraging talking about the pictures show that. The group covering a story abou a poor family won the first price at the end, spending three intensive days with the family, seeing the first moments of the mother coming home from the hospital with her newborn child, photographing the different aspects of their life in the small hut.
We finish the workshop with seven photoessay at the end, covering different stories from poverty to leasure time at campus. All the stories can be seen on teh project website, so don’t hesitate to dive into some stories from todays Rwanda.

For all who would like to participate, but couldn’t be considered this year: Check the tutorials on this website soon and join us via flickr, facebook and co. For more information about joining the project, check this link here.

And here is the list:

1. Francois Munyegabe

2. Emile Nsabimana

3. Richard Niyonkuru

4. Robert Kayitare

5. Fidele Niyigaba

6. Albert Kabera

7. Gilbert Rukundo

8. Joseph Hitimana

9. Elie Harerimana

10. Richard Ndayambaje

11. David Masengesho

12. Alphonse Muhayimana

13. John Babtist Micomyiza

14. Richard Niyonkuru

15. Egide Abahuje

16. Vincent Ndavi

17. Bwiza Muhire Hippolyte

18. Noella Masengeshoo

19. Jean Damascene Rukundo

20. Chris Nakuru