The Rules of Documentary Photography

Documentary photography is THE best tool we have to make ever lasting records of life's best and worst moments. Whether documenting your daily life for future generations to look back upon, or capturing international level events, the power held within the snap of a shutter is vast. And you know what they say about great power...
In order to maintain credibility, have your photography respected as documentary work, be trusted as a documentary photographer, and to tell the story you are documenting with objective accuracy, there are rules you have to follow. In this video I cover what those rules are, why they're important, where they're applicable, and when you should break them.
- Video Contents -
00:00 - Intro
00:10 - Authenticity
01:00 - Research
01:20 - Awareness
01:55 - Avoiding Bias
04:31 - Editing
05:02 - Corrections Vs Manipulation
06:20 - Image Selection
06:56 - Work Presentation
07:38 - Context
08:29 - Breaking the Rules
10:35 - Outro
It will come as no surprise that I specialise in Documentary Photography, and soon I will post some videos looking at my own work and projects, but if you are interested in seeing what I have been shooting, check out my work here:
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[@Sea0fTime]

Nicely considered thoughts on this style of photography. I'd like to add that you can never be truly completely objective and honest and rather than approach your documentary photography with the idea that you can be, it's better to recognize your biases, both to yourself, and when possible, to your viewers. Every photograph is a lie and a manipulation. Even if you try to create an image that appears close to the experience of "being there". Your lens selection, your exposure settings, your camera position, height, angle, focus, and field of view, are all manipulating the scene you capture. What you include and don't include in the shot, all these things are imposing your view on the viewer, it would be impossible not to do this.

[@FirbyPhotography]

Well said. A good documentary photographer makes the effort to be as objective as possible, whilst recognising that total objectivity is an unreachable goal.