Every Picture Tells a Story: Writing with Photographs

When I taught fourth grade, I asked my students to bring in a photo that told a story – not just a posed still shot, but something that evoked emotion and even adventure, fun, or mystery. I encouraged students who did not have a photo to draw a picture that told a story about something that had really happened, and I gave everyone two weeks to bring the photo or drawing to class.

Years ago, I had a great photo of Jodi Beily, one of my riding students, and me standing on top of the sprawling manure pile at the barn, working with a pitchfork to level the pile, Periodically, we leveled the top to keep it from getting too high so we could toss the manure from our wheelbarrows rather than just dumping it on the ground in front of the manure pile. That way it was neat and manageable until Sal brought his truck and a front-end loader to take the pile away. One cold winter day, my riding students gathered in the courtyard and started tossing snowballs at us. I lifted one arm to ward off the steady barrage of missiles, lost my balance, and ended up falling into the steamy pile. Jodi’s dad caught it all on camera. Jodi did manage to pull me from the pile, but not before the kids had all disappeared. These series of snapshots have long since been misplaced, but not the memory of my little adventure.

Recently, Ralph Fletcher wrote Focus Lessons: How Photography Enhances the Teaching of Writing. He suggests using a camera to spark curiosity and as a writer’s notebook to focus on small moments and interesting details. A great resource for the writing classroom!