The role of photographic images in contemporary novels

The article examines a phenomenon that has become widespread in English literature in recent decades - the use of photographs as a plot-forming element. The article touches upon the problem of ekphrasis - the ratio of visual and verbal images. In Beryl Bainbridge's novels, Georgie the Master and Jonathan Coe, Before It Rains, the story is centered around a series of photographs. The plot of the novel Out of this World by Graham Swift is based on the life story and family collisions of a professional photographer. The stories of the heroes, based on photographic images, become a way of self-disclosure. Photos play an important role in the lives of the characters in the three short stories that make up Rachel Seyfert's novel, while serving as pivotal points for the plot.