One of the most underappreciated forms of storytelling is the photo essay.

Why do I like it?

It’s E-A-S-Y!

A photo essay is simply using a series of pictures to tell a story. The story may reveal what it was like to be at an event. It might show “a day in the life” of one mission leader, a mission team, a local church, or member of a village or community who represents those a church or mission team are trying to reach. It might show a specific storyline from beginning to end.

All the writer needs to do is put one or two sentences to each picture as a caption to fill in the details.

Here’s a great example of a photo essay that tells the story of a medical mission ministry that travels to villages along the Amazon River via a boat. It is in the style of “a day in the life of” the ministry team and the community where they ministered. In this case, it probably represents one or two weeks.

Let’s look at this essay for a moment. Click on the link above. If it doesn’t open in a new window, copy the address in the line at the top of your screen, then use the arrow at the top lefthand corner to go back to this page. Open a new browser window and paste the address into the top line and try to keep both this blog and the slideshow open side by side on your screen.

Now, look at the first image. It’s an immediately engaging photo because you are looking straight into the eyes of two young girls who live in a village where a medical mission team is ministering.

In the next slide, you see the ministry team bowing their heads in prayer before starting their day.

The following slides show many of the individual people who may benefit from the team’s medical ministry that day. This helps the “reader” feel connected to the human lives that are being reached. The photos also include scenes of the village itself, so the “reader” begins to understand the total context.

In one photo, you see a picture of a boat being constructed. The caption explains that a village resident is building the boat to sell. This gives the reader an idea of what type of economy and craftsmanship the villagers are involved in. Later, there is another picture of a boat under repair, and the caption reinforces that boat-making is indeed a main source of income for the village.

There are photos of medicine being distributed, of a team member reading the Bible to a blind resident, of a dental procedure underway, and a portrait of a local pastor. Click here to read more about this ministry story.

Together, all of these pictures provide a more in-depth look at the ministry team, the community and how all these people are interacting together in the mission.

Consider using photographs of your mission experience as a photo essay in the new mission magazine. It would also be a great way to share your pictures with your friends, family and church because you’ll be able to forward the link to your photo essay by e-mail.

As a bonus, here’s a great photo essay on how coffee gets from the tree to your cup.

Tags: Mission Magazine