Something we talk about a lot in reviews is how to create a cohesive, compelling body of work. There are many facets and answers to this question, but one I think doesn’t get talked about is the use of basic story structure.

The visual representation of basic story structure is a lopsided pyramid set in a plain. The elements are: exposition, conflict, rising action, climax, falling action, resolution or denouement. Many bodies of work that have a strong narrative, a story to tell, can typically be made to follow this form.

Why is this beneficial? I think there are two primary reasons. One is that the viewer has been, unconsciously, bombarded with television shows, movies, songs, short stories and novels that follow this form. It is subconsciously recognized.

Second, if the photographer is conscious of attempting to create or curate in this manner, there can be a tighter, more cohesive relationship between the images, thereby telling the story with more clarity.

Having just been jurors of Critical Mass we saw numerous entries that could have benefited from thinking in these terms, especially since they only had ten images to get their creative concepts across.

The video below is great. Vonnegut expertly and humorously gets the point across, in his way.

Kurt Vonnegut, Shape of Stories

Kevin Tully,
November, 2025