What is a series in photography?

Cristina Otero’s Tutti Frutti Photography Series



A photography series is a group of photographs sharing a subject or a theme. The photographs should look unified as a group; they should (usually) all be either color or black and white, printed at the same size and format, shot with the same or similar cameras and mounted and framed the same way. Following these guidelines, there are many ways to create a photography series.

One Process
One way to make a photography series look unified is to use the same process to print all of the photos. There are limitless ways to print photographs from digital and film cameras besides the well-known inkjet and Fuji Crystal Archive prints done at home and in labs. A film camera gives you more options; use your negatives to make wet darkroom prints on different kinds of papers and tone them differently. Use 19th century photographic processes such as cyanotype or platinum/palladium. Digital files can also be used to create digital negatives for contact printing, if you use one of the older processes. These prints will look unified as a series even if the subject matter varies.

One Genre

make your images go together by sticking to one of the classic genres of photography: portraits, still-life, nudes, landscapes, street photography or architectural photography. Look through photographic monographs at a library to view other possibilities. Ansel Adams was known for his landscape series about Yosemite. Walker Evans did a series of unforgettable portraits of sharecroppers in Alabama in the 1930s. Alfred Stieglitz photographed his wife, Georgia O'Keefe, repeatedly over the years. It doesn't take years to create a photographic series; memorable series have been created in a few minutes, such as Robert Capa's series about the landing on Normandy Beach in World War II.

One Place

One of the surest ways to make a series of photographs work as a group is to photograph one place as exhaustively as you can. A  "place" can be as small or expansive as you wish. It could be your childhood home, a neighbor's farm or one room in a house. Some of the best series of photos about a place include the people living there. The photos show the relationship between the place and the people, as in Shelby Lee Adams' series about Appalachia and its people.

One Theme

A more difficult assignment for a photographic series is to take a group of photos revolving around a theme. The theme could be purely visual, such as "light" or "shadows," narrative such as "dreams" or a concept as nebulous as "freedom." The group will go together better if you use one camera, format, printing process and if you frame the photos the same way.

YOUR TASK: Research some of the photography series and photographers mentioned above. Find a favorite series ON YOUR OWN. In your research, be thinking about what you might consider doing for a photography series (say, about 9 images- hint!

Shagun Ray, Vintage Camera Series