Showing Life Stories via Images
It's great to share a snapshot of a person or place – even better to tell a life story through pictures!
Here are some ways I’ve found to portray life stories through pictures – for people to see and enjoy. Photo-essays, diagrams, interactive maps… and more!
There’s nothing like a picture to bring you there.
I notice that viewers of all ages show interest when I use visuals to tell life stories. Photos, drawings, diagrams, slideshows, maps – you name it – attract the attention of people I wish to reach.
Photo Books
It’s easy these days to order a book of photos on a ‘theme’ such as about family, pets, wedding or a vacation – and that’s great! I find it’s even better to present them in a storyline with captions, to share the stories behind the photos.
Photo Essay
“What do you give to a loved one who’s dying, for their last birthday?”
This is the question I faced at age 24, when my father lay in hospital with terminal cancer. He had wanted to visit me and my sister in her new house, to see us start our lives in another city. I decided I’d bring him as close to that experience as I could.
There were no iPads nor digital cameras at the time. I told the story in an album of printed photos with captions. My sister and I staged scenes as: she opens her new front door, reads a book on her new living room couch, I exit dressed for work, and we head out with golf clubs or rollerblades on the weekend.
This 1980s photo-essay was a a gift of love using technology of the day – sharing the story is what counts!
My Dad loved the book. He lingered over each page, pleased to see us in our new lives. At the end of our family visit for his birthday, he asked to keep the book by his bedside. I think it helped satisfy his curiosity, and put his mind at ease that we were in a good place. He died three weeks later.
Take-Away: A custom-made storybook can be a cherished gift of love – especially if it has personalized photos.
Scrapbook
My mother loved train-travel for all the years I knew her, but I had no idea what sparked this love.
Then my sister found a scrapbook our mother made as a young university student. It tells her story of a train trip across North America to attend a sorority gathering. I imagine her sense of freedom – in the late 1940’s – as she pulled away from her parents and two younger brothers for the first time. Mom wasn’t sentimental, yet the two things my sister found were this scrapbook and my parents’ wedding album. That’s how much it meant to her!
She organized it to follow the order of events: train ticket, dining car menu, postcard of the Rocky Mountains, program of events, restaurant menu and more. It’s not a diary, but it does tell a story – about the trip, and about my mother and her love of independent travel from a young age.
When I was a child, our family took the trans-Canada train to move from Montreal to Vancouver. I had no idea Mom was retracing her trip of 20 years before (although not a freedom-run this time)!
Photo Story-Book
“Muskeg – uh oh, that’s a cute name for a puppy!”. I drove with a friend to Canada’s north where he had a new job. His dog had a litter of pups on the way. I already had a dog at home, but by the end of the trip, couldn’t resist one more.
It warms my heart to look at this story-book about my dear dog – happy times, some sad, and many antics!
After eight playful years of adventure, my dear Muskeg died of cancer. I self-published a book to tell the story of her life in photos with captions. It shows her as she plays with the neighbour kids, runs beside cross-country ski trails, and snuggles with my cat.
Children like to see the book. Mostly it’s for me, to remember my cheerful canine pal.
Take-Away: Photo, scrapbook and self-publishing apps help you tell life stories with pictures and words.
Family Tree Drawing
When I began to research our family history, I was – and still am – so excited at my new findings. My online tree showed many newfound ancestors – with too many details for my busy relatives. How might I present a summary they’d like to view?
I decided to draw our family tree, versus using a computer image. I made one tree for our paternal lineage, and a separate one for our maternal ancestors. Each couple has a pair of leaves, with their individual names, location and occupation. Our parental surnames and the motto of their Scottish clan wrap around each trunk.
Simplified info and stylized design to attract attention (and questions?) – details are on my online family tree!
I printed them on good quality paper, in a folder such as for a diploma or grad photos.
My cousins and siblings were happy to receive these at Christmas, to see our ancestry at a glance. I imagine they’ll keep their copy, and their children may take interest in future. I’ve done more research since, and can fill in some of the empty leaves and branches with updated info to share with my relatives.
Cemetery Diagram
One by one, each of my siblings and I moved to Ottawa from Montreal – thinking it was a new location for our family.
After some online research about our ancestors and their locations, I took an ‘ancestry tour’ to southern Ontario and Quebec. I was surprised we had so many ancestors who lived in and around the city of Ottawa!
Six couples were all buried at one cemetery. Their timeframe spanned over a hundred years and four generations. My cousin and my sister joined in a visit to the cemetery. I brought a profile page for each ancestor, so we could pay our respects to the individuals – more than just names on a stone.
We were amazed to find their graves all in one section of the early graveyard. As I stood there, it really became clear for me how these people led their own lives in relation to one-another: grandparents, in-laws, spouses, children. How best to sum this up for my relatives?
I made a flowchart to ‘connect the dots’ for myself, then sketched a diagram to share with relatives. I included it in a family history book about our mother’s side of the family. Arrows point between tombstones to show how the people are related. The legend on the side shows their full names and dates. Each ancestor has their own icon (e.g. a cow for a dairy farmer, a wood-saw for a millwright). Their icon is like a personal logo – to identify them on our family tree and connect them to their ancestor profile. My relatives like the icons to remember who’s-who!
This sketch shows ancestral relations at a glance, and refers to individual ancestor profiles in a family history book.
Take-Away: Visual formats help to engage relatives in family history.
Slideshow Presentation
My relatives came from far and wide for my mother’s memorial in Montreal, in what became a weekend-long family reunion. The time was right for me to share my initial findings on our family history. Most of my relatives had no idea of our ancestry – except to know that it’s Scottish.
I presented a slide (projected on a flatscreen) for each ancestor, going back a few generations. Each had a photo, the tartan to identify if they were on our mother’s or father’s side of the family, and a few bullet points. With just their name, dates, location and key features of their life, I introduced our ‘extended family’ to those present!
These printed slides about my grandmothers are part of a set to suit viewers of all ages at a family gathering.
It was good to keep to just a few highlights. As I spoke to my relatives about generations gone by, our view out the panoramic window was of Mount Royal where we had buried my mother’s ashes near ancestors’ graves.
Interactive Map
My sister and I went on a couple of bicycle trips in New England. I was the keeper of the map – which was on paper at the time (no GPS nor mobile phones yet!). I drew our route on the map as we went, along with notes of places we visited.
My sister always keeps a trip diary. This time, I did too. I remember the buzz of mosquitos outside the screen as I sat in my tent to write notes each evening. When I got home, I pasted the notes – along with some photos – into a book. I still have the original map and handwritten diary!
I got an idea for my sister’s birthday. I traced our exact route on a bike-trip map using GoogleMyMaps. I put a marker at each of our camp spots, swimming holes, hiking areas etc. I placed digital images of our photos and my journal pages to pop-up at key points! It was fun to chat with my sister after she explored the map, to share stories and memories of our trip.
This map combines bits about our long-ago trip to tell the story of a big life adventure, and refresh memories!
Take-Away: Interactive maps are a fun way to share travel-tales and other place-based stories.
These are just a few of my experiences in telling life stories with images. I find it fun, worth the effort, and well received!
written by Barbara L Campbell, 2024