Seriality and its Varieties as Genre-Specific Forms of Photographic Representation

Photographic seriality can be considered a general concept encompassing such genre-specific forms as the photo series, photo reportage, photo essay, and photo project. The author views them as closely linked to specific photographic disciplines, where they fulfill corresponding functions. In particular, the photo series has organically integrated into the space of documentary photography and successfully fulfilled the function of photographic documentation. Photo reports and photo essays have become an integral part of photojournalism, fulfilling a figurative and journalistic function. The photo project has found application in contemporary art, serving as artistic material. The author notes that from a creative methodology perspective, the distinctive feature of the photo series as a visual storytelling tool lies in the maximally objective presentation of a set of facts, the similarity of which is determined only by the affinity of external features. The photographer is, therefore, not only a journalist but also an artist. A photographer becomes a full-fledged artist when a series of images emerges in his photo project, which, taken together, creates a certain semantic density that represents an external artistic and conceptual design.