Introduction to Photographic Storytelling

By the end of this module, participants will master the main mechanisms of photographic storytelling, from a narrative built through a single image to the coherent development of a story through photographic series, using composition, color, mise-en-scène, montage, and visual association in a conscious manner.Storytelling in photography can be approached as a serial structure, similar to the most accessible and widespread form of storytelling—the fairy tale—with recognizable stages, rhythm, tension, and resolution adapted to visual language. The course also explores how a single photograph, even without textual context or a series, can generate narrative meaning, analyzing what visual elements, perception mechanisms and cultural conventions contribute to transforming a static image into a story support, capable of activating the viewer's imagination and interpretation.

What you will learn:

• narrative moments and their applicability in images;

• criteria for conceptual association;

• image composition techniques and how to build a narrative series;

• cinematic principles;

• the relationship between text and image.

Course schedule:

• Wednesday, February 11, 2026, 18:00–21:00 – Types of approaches in visual storytelling

• Wednesday, February 25, 2026, 18:00–21:00 – Narrative potential of the photographic means of expression

• Wednesday, March 11, 2026, 18:00–21:00 – Storytelling in conceptual practice

• Wednesday, March 25, 2026, 18:00–21:00 – Storytelling through image series

  
  

Course details:

This is a module of the “Fundamentals of Photography” course and can be taken independently by those interested only in photographic storytelling. You need a camera with interchangeable lenses and a laptop or tablet with post-processing and presentation software.

About the lecturer (short bio):

Cornel Lazia holds a PhD in Cinematography and Media, is a lecturer at UNATC, an artist exhibited nationally and internationally, and a photographer with over 20 years of commercial experience – fashion, advertising, music album covers, corporate, etc.