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:
I would highly recommend JP Stones for a presentation!
We had JP Stones present to us via zoom one night which was great! Our members thoroughly enjoyed his presentation, his background stories and loved seeing the behind-the-scenes of his images. JP was very open to any questions and presented very well. I would highly recommend JP Stones for a presentation!
You have reset our perspectives!
Your presentation this evening to Sale Photographic Society showed a refreshing approach to our art. In fact you have reset our perspectives on what we should seek. The images which you used to illustrate your approach were superb. We will think more about telling a story with our images in the future.
An Incredible Presentation!
Thank you for your incredible presentation.Your talk was like a gift that kept on giving, or maybe like a good story that keeps unfolding. You were so effective in creating a mindset of not just striving to capture a nice image but to establish the framework for conveying a narrative. Your images had so much depth, not just conveyed by creative exposure but through luring the viewers’ imagination into the image. You successfully created captures that prompted questions about the character, more that just viewing a model. Reading between the lines, it was evident though out your presentation that you think and plan your images.
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!
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!
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.
A very interesting and enjoyable evening.
It was great to hear how JP made a connection with his models and was able to portray them as a character(s) in his story. JP's images were stunning and very atmospheric – these, together with the explanation of his intentions for making each image, and how he placed his models for the best effect - made for a very interesting and enjoyable evening.
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.
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.
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!
Thank you for your presentation. It was fascinating.
Thank you for your presentation. It was fascinating to see the work that goes into your image. Thanks for taking the time to explain the methodology used behind creating your work, as well as your reasons for capturing these unique images of an ancient culture that is preserved in this modern time.
A passionate and inspiring photographer!
A passionate and inspiring photographer, JP gave our audience plenty to think about and was an excellent start to the new year for us!
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!
It was a real inspiration and learning experience.
Thank you for sharing your process and amazing work. It was a real inspiration and learning experience. The feedback from our members on your presentation has been excellent. Our club has an amazing number of great photographers, but everyone I have spoken with took away something they could use from your talk.
Cool presentation and great insights. I really enjoyed the talk.
Cool presentation and great insights. I really enjoyed the talk.
JP’s images were amazing and really told a story.
Our photography group thoroughly enjoyed this presentation. JP's images were amazing and really told a story. He explained his ideas and processes in a clear and concise manner. It took us out of our usual realm of Irish landscapes to see some stunning Mexican cultural images
Our members were on the edge of their seats for the entire time!
Thanks for an excellent presentation last night! Our members were on the edge of their seats for the entire time!
fantastic photography, well planned out and well delivered!
I would just like to say how we thoroughly enjoyed last night's talk from you. Apart from the fantastic photography, it was full of tips and things I will definitely keep in mind next time I am out with my camera, and also questioning what am I trying to say and what will the person viewing the image take from it? So thank you for such an interesting evening, well planned out and delivered, and we will forgive you for saying how hot it was over there, as we were all wrapped up in our community hall!
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!
Our members were inspired to get out and try your intentional approach!
Excellent presentation! The club really loved it. Many of our members were inspired to get out and try your intentional approach to visual storytelling!
Blown away by your photos!
Thank you JP. That was an exceptional presentation. Very informative. Blown away by your photos! Really Fabulous. Thank you so much.
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.
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.
I was engrossed all evening and learned much.
have been to many, many camera club presentations and I must say that JP Stones talk on Storytelling in Photography last night was right up there. His photographs are first rate. His location in Mexico gives an interesting new subject setting and perspective I've not seen before. And in the presentation he openly and generously describes his journey and methods of photography. I was engrossed all evening and learned much.
In awe of your fabulous storytelling!
It was an absolute pleasure to host you on Monday evening. Our members felt totally inspired and in awe of your fabulous storytelling! Many many thanks for your time given to entertain and educate us all with some absolutely jaw-dropping images.
Enjoyed your presentation very much!
Enjoyed your presentation very much and you gave us some great ideas and practical suggestions. One good thing that came out of the pandemic is the acceptance of distance learning and great presenters being available for small clubs like ours.
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!
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!
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!
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.
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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