Photo by Holly Webb

 

I have been looking at similar articles to my own to see if I can get some inspiration for this project. This post is a collection of the articles I have found and the inspiration I am going to take from each of them.

 

ARTICLES ABOUT CLIMBING:

The Guardian – Indoor climbing: the rise of bouldering-only centres

This article looks at the growing popularity of indoor climbing and indoor climbing gyms. The topic is very similar to what I would like to base my project on, however the way it is executed is different.

The Guardian has written this article as a proper feature, with good use of descriptive language and scene-setting. I really like this idea and will try to do this in my own project.

I also will talk to similar people to this article, for example they talked to someone from the British Mountaineering Council, and I have spoken to professional climbers and someone from UKClimbing.com. It shows that when covering a topic such as this, you do need professionals in the industry to add some trustworthy support to what you’re saying.

While I do like this article a lot, I also want to do things a bit differently. Firstly, they have only used two images, and I will be creating a lot more than that. This may mean that I use less descriptive language and I will instead use the images more than they have to tell the story.

The Guardian – Climbing has gone from niche sport to worldwide sensation. What is its dizzying appeal?

Again, this article is about a similar topic to mine, however the set-up is quite different. While this piece is longer than the first, they have still only used two images which shows how picture-heavy my project will be in comparison to both these articles.

However, I still like the style of writing and structure of the piece. They set the scene nicely at the beginning, and include a lot of descriptive words and imagery to portray the narrative.

With both, the use of pictures is minimal – so I want to have a look at other articles to see how the writing changes in a piece with more photos included.

 

PHOTO-HEAVY ARTICLES:

TIME Magazine – Inside the private family life of a young George H.W. Bush

I really like this article as the photos piece together the narrative perfectly. I also like how the majority of the photos are candid, and there is little writing.

With only 500 words or so, the images tell the main story. I really like these types of articles so I’m hoping to create something similar. I really want candid photography to be a part of my project, and looking at this article has confirmed that for me.

One thing that I know will be different is the ratio of words to photos. I think that I will take inspiration from the type of photos used here, I will have to change the feature style a lot to balance out the ratio.

National Geographic – Sumatran rhino rescue project

National Geographic is one of my favourite magazines and the ultimate goal in my career. They always use a lot of imagery, and this article is no different.

I think with an article such as this the use of photos is very important to make the reader feel something for the rhinos.

My project won’t be very similar in the layout or composition of this piece, however I think this is a good example of how a lot of imagery and photography can be important to a feature.

 

ARTICLES INTERVIEWING THE PUBLIC:

As I wanted to talk to people at the climbing gyms and ask the public why they liked being a part of the climbing community and why they started climbing, I thought I would look for some articles that use similar techniques – stopping people in the street or interviewing the public on their opinion on the matter.

Thoraya Maronesy – Asking strangers what they’re ashamed of

Thoraya Maronesy makes short films on YouTube where she stops strangers and asks them all the same questions. I really like this idea as she normally gets some very interesting answers.

Although my project is not as hard-hitting and intense as her questions, these videos have still inspired me to go up to strangers and ask them questions as it shows good answers can come from that.

More:

Thoraya Maronesy – Asking strangers what the kindest thing they’ve been told is

and

Thoraya Maronesy – Asking strangers what’s the most painful thing they’ve been told is

 

ARTICLES THAT INCLUDE PORTRAIT AND CANDID PHOTOGRAPHY:

The Times – Hillary Clinton on where it all went wrong

and

National Geographic – Apartheid ended 29 years ago. How has South Africa changed?

I think that both of these articles use candid photography and documentary portraiture to its advantage. I hope to do the same as I love both styles of photography.

 

I have really enjoyed researching these articles in order to get inspiration for my own project. I look forward to going out this week and meeting some of my interviewees, as well as taking some more photographs.