I’m currently presenting one of my favorite photography talks: Storytelling for Photographers.
Great storytelling will help an audience connect emotionally to your images, but understanding how to weave narrative into your photography is far from obvious. Contact me for bookings.
I’ve presented my talks over 250 times since 2020. Each one is an exploration into Narrative Photography, using videos and photos from my photoshoots here in Mexico.
What an amazing photography talk! JP’s work transcends photography alone.
JP has spent the last decade photographing the same group of Mexica, or Azteca, dancers. In that time he learned how connected the Mexica are to their mythology, to ancient stories passed down across generations. That’s when he realised that, as these stories were so vital to Mexica culture, they needed to play a bigger role in his portraits.
Thought provoking and inspirational. Unlike anything we have had before!
This is a photography talk is about what happened next. About how a desire to tell stories visually, ended up changing his entire creative process, and the way people react to his photos. Using examples from his cultural photography work in Mexico, JP Stones explores different ways to improve that emotional connection. Including how myths and character archetypes can be harnessed for better storytelling.
Working with narratives won’t just change the way people engage with your photos, it will fundamentally change the way you create them. Because that narrative can also be used to guide decisions on posing, composition, lighting, and color. Focusing your creative decisions and ensuring you create cohesive work.
An incredible presentation! Our members are still talking about this!
JP has presented for professional organizations and camera clubs across the US, Mexico, and the UK. His work has been featured on the cover of multiple publications, including Good Light Magazine. He’s been teaching his Cultural Workshops for close to 10 years. You can watch him present below on his YouTube channel.
What you get when you purchase this Storytelling for Photographers: a live 90 minutes photography talk by JP Stones followed by a live Q&A session. This photography talk is available in English, French and Spanish.
Book Storytelling for Photographers Now!
TOPICS DISCUSSED IN THIS PHOTOGRAPHY TALK
- How much of a story can one photo really tell?
- How being more intentional can changed your approach to photography.
- How photography can be about making an emotional connection as well as creating beautiful work.
- How thinking in stories can help guide your entire creative decision-making process.
GET A FEEL FOR WHAT MY PHOTOGRAPHY TALKS ARE ALL ABOUT
My YouTube channel is a good way to get a feel for who I am.
PHOTOGRAPHY TALKS TESTIMONIALS
See what people who attended my photography talks had to say:
Wow! That was the best presentation I’ve seen in a long time.
JP. Wow! That was the best presentation I’ve seen in a long time. Your images are absolutely brilliant! The use of the word “story” in the context of photography has always troubled me. But the way you explained things, it really gave me a much better understanding of the term and how to go about visually communicating it. Thank you so much for the presentation. I have a limited number of living photographers that I call my favorites and I have now added your name to that list.
Your work is mesmerizing!
You just finished giving a presentation on zoom to a few photography clubs, I was part of that zoom meeting and I just wanted to say thank you! Your work is mesmerizing! I've been feeling very stuck with my photography lately and your presentation was full of some great information and inspiration for me personally.
Bravo pour vos photos, pour leur esthétique et leur visée narrative
Je tiens sincèrement à vous remercier pour votre présentation de mercredi dernier. J'ai trouvé votre approche extrêmement intéressante, et donnant matière à réflexion. Je suis sûre qu'à l'avenir je vais pouvoir m'inspirer de cette perspective, ainsi que de votre message de cohérence globale. Bravo pour vos photos, pour leur esthétique et leur visée narrative.
I found your talk both engaging and inspirational.
I would also like to personally add my thanks for last night. I found your talk both engaging and inspirational, and the photography was excellent. Thanks once again.
Our members enjoyed it and were inspired!
Thanks so much for the knowledge and insight you shared with our club. I know our members enjoyed it and were inspired.
Thanks so much for the inspiration!
On behalf of our Camera Club, I just want to forward a big thank you for your inspiring presentation last night. Your thoughts and approach on how you have evolved and improved to reach current level was an amazing story in itself, and personally I walked away with a lot of ideas on how to change my approach to photography and hopefully improve the final result, and I am confident that will be the case for most of the audience as well. I have always thought that a story-telling element always separates the great images from the good images. Thanks so much for the inspiration!
You gave us new ways to look at photography!
Your presentation last night to the Sierra Camera Club was entertaining and educational. You gave us new ways to look at photography which gives us opportunities to broaden what we shoot and create art. You used your striking mages well to illustrate your message. Thank you
It was a truly unique learning experience!
JP did a fantastic job describing the path he has been on to develop his photographic style and how it has evolved over time to the present. The images he shares exhibit the care and thought he puts into his photography and telling a story in one photo. It was a truly unique learning experience for me and for most of our photography club. JP was able to explain his unique vision and how other photographers can adopt or adapt it to fit into their future work. I have notes from the presentation that I am sure will help me on my photographic journey.
JP’s work transcends photography alone.
JP's images have such beauty, that just on a superficial level they demand attention. But more than that, they transport the willing viewer into an unfamiliar time and place, and invite them to write the narrative. Our club learned a great deal about how to develop an intention for a photography shoot and work through that cohesive process to produce a narrative image which has a power and vibrance of its own. I would whole-heartedly recommend JP to clubs and societies - photographic and other. His work transcends photography alone.
Best talk I’ve seen since I’ve been at the club!
I've been a member for about 5 years and this event was by far the most interesting and engaging. A view shared by many of the members and attendees. It was informative, practical and educational. The message of intent was striking and the progression of JPs photographs through the use of intent was remarkable. JP presented mistakes and provided solutions based on what the intention should be. It was a different mindset, which I could see the audience taking notes on. Even our more seasoned members. We enjoyed the story telling and the journey you have been on to bring to light the cultures of Mexico. Your passion and enthusiasm are an inspiration!
We highly recommend this talk!
Thank you for the presentation. We all thought it was a great learning lesson about Intentions and Lighting and Storytelling in photography. We highly recommend it to anyone or group that wants to increase their "narrative" abilities!
We came away with a better idea of how to tell stories.
JP gave us an energetic and informative presentation. His theme of "intentional photography" was something we hadn't seen before and was quite refreshing. I particularly appreciated the critique of his own work with the hope that we might learn a thing or two. We all came away with a better idea of how to tell stories with a simple picture.
Informative and inspirational!
I want to give my extreme thanks for your talk you gave thursday night. It was very informative and inspirational. I am extremely grateful for the time you put into it!
The talk was very enjoyable!
The talk was very enjoyable. It was great hearing JP’s perspective on storytelling in photography and seeing how he has approached it in his career. JP was engaging and informative and had an evident passion and talent for photography. I look forward to seeing how I can apply his ideas shown into my own photography. Thanks again for everything!
Our members are still talking about this talk!
Haslemere Camera Club members thoroughly enjoyed an inspiring evening via Zoom with JP Stones in which he took us through his recent professional development – how he recognised the need to develop a new photographic philosophy, the steps he took to perfect his new approach and how he applied this to theatrical, sporting and cultural portraiture, creating a clear and compelling narrative in each case. Our members are still talking about this talk - a great success!
An invaluable session!
An excellent presentation! JP covered intentional narrative photography very clearly, and in such a way that everyone will be able to put the concepts into practice. We are often reminded (mainly by competition judges!) of the value of a narrative image, and I think this will be the first time that most of our club members will have been taken through the subject in such a detailed and informative way. An invaluable session.
Interesting, fantastic, and inspirational!
Thank you for last night. The presentation was interesting, the pictures were fantastic, and the thought process was inspirational. We are still talking about it tonight and looking how we can plan and move things forward incorporating what we have learnt!
We are all still talking about our evening with JP!
We are all still talking about our evening with JP. He is a dream guest for Camera Clubs! Affordable, humble, quick to respond and equally good in front of the camera as he is behind it!
Une excellente conférence!
Nous avons assisté à une excellente conférence de JP Stones. JP nous a fait évolué dans la compréhension de la narration visuelle en photographie. Ses commentaires étaient justes, pertinents et ses photos magnifiques! Je veux aussi remercier JP pour sa générosité et aussi de nous avoir si bien aidé à passer à un autre niveau! Tout ça, dans un excellent français! Merci encore!
Thank you so much for your excellent presentation!
Thank you so much for your excellent presentation last night to the Duluth Superior Camera Club. There were so many positive comments about your presentation and our club and visitors took away so many helpful tips and new ways to look at the way we might be photographing. Again, thank you!!!!
A truly excellent illustration of the topic
Thank you JP for your great presentation. Wonderful work that clearly shows your connection with the people, and a truly excellent illustration of the topic. Lots of food for thought!
Unlike anything we have had before!
Such a great presentation! It is unlike anything we have had before. Many of the points are applicable to the various genres of photography in which the members engage. Thank you!
Enlightening!
JP presented us with a really terrific program. It was enlightening and very well organized.
Thank you for your inspiring and beautiful talk tonight.
Thank you for your inspiring and beautiful talk tonight. So refreshing to hear about your work being about emotion, intention and narrative.
You even motivated some individuals to purchase fog machines!
Everybody really enjoyed your presentation last month – very informative. You even motivated some individuals to purchase fog machines. I know Denice got hers 2 days later!
JP presented us with some fantastic images
JP presented us with some fantastic images each telling a story in their own way. JP explained how he creates images that tell a whole story from beginning to end. In his 90 minute talk he explained how he works with narrartives & how they work with creating lighting, composition & the mood for his images. This will help us think about the story when creating our own images.
The talk was professional, very enjoyable and invaluable!
It was a pleasure for our club to host JP Stones and his presentation on Storytelling for Photographers. It was great hearing JP’s perspective on storytelling and his intent behind his work. JP’s willingness to explain his thought process, showing examples of both his brilliant images as well as mistakes he has made was a real eye opener. The talk was presented in a professional way, was very enjoyable and our members found it invaluable.
A fresh and fascinating talk!
Thank you for a very interesting and enjoyable evening. There was a lot of talk afterwards about how great your images were and we were all really taken with your idea of intention and story telling. I think we often talk about an image telling a story but this often happens by chance so the notion of thinking of the story first and then creating the image is really fresh and fascinating. We are all going to go out and buy smoke machines now!
A very interesting and thought provoking talk last night.
Thank you for a very interesting and thought provoking talk last night. Your presentation went down well with members who were very enthusiastic about it. We all have to think now how we can tell a story with an image and scour Amazon for smoke machines!
Insightful and inspirational!
JP’s presentation to our club was insightful and inspirational. His story of where he began and his behind the scenes imagery set the stage for a better understanding of what it takes to truly create in-depth stories and photographs of such a culturally rich community.
Book Now! Storytelling for Photographers (90 mins) now $120 USD / 95 GBP.
Have some more questions? Let’s chat!
ABOUT JP STONES
“I started my Cultural Photography Workshops because I was frustrated at not being able to create the travel photos I wanted to. Candid photos are fine, but I wanted my portraits to show the personality and history of the people I was photographing.”
“A great portrait is a blend of multiple factors: the model, the environment, the lighting, and the composition. But as a tourist you can’t control many of these factors. I wanted to change that, bringing tourists and local communities together, in a harmonious way. The more we learn about someone else’s culture, the more we’re likely to embrace and respect it. As a foreigner in Mexico, that idea means a lot to me.”
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