Storytelling (2)

1
These two pictures (main blip and extra) have some elements in common (both show a person in front of their houses looking at something you can’t see), yet the stories they tell are very different.
 
2
In the comments to yesterday’s blip, the role of imagination in interpreting a picture was emphasized by many. That made me wonder: What stirs imagination? What can the photographer do to motivate the viewer to imagine the story that is behind (or outside) the picture?
 
3
Imagination works with what isn’t said or shown. It tries to fill in the gaps. What is the old lady looking at? Why is the boy’s posture so defiant? What does the old lady’s neighborhood look like? Why is the boy alone on a street like that?
 
4
On the other hand, imagination must take its clues from what is shown. The old lady doesn’t seem to be afraid, she seems to be quite relaxed as she’s leaning against the doorframe of her house. The walls are bright and relatively clean, her clothes are colorful. Everything seems to be ok for her. But she seems to be looking in a direction where things aren’t as neat and bright as her own world: The neighbor’s walls look tainted and somber. The photograph suggests that, although she does not yet feel threatened, the old lady’s (wider) world is not perfect after all.
 
5
The boy tells a different story. It clearly shows that doom has already come. He lives in a ugly, poor neighborhood. His street is full of holes and trash. But his posture is saying: I’m not giving in. This posture is reflected by signs of construction activity (the pile of sand in the lower right corner, the debris in front of the last house in the picture) and by the rising sun: In a matter of minutes, the boy will be standing in the light.
 
6

This is just one of many possible stories these pictures tell. I’m sure your imagination will tell you other stories. But what I’m trying to get at is this: Don’t show everything (don’t try to tell the whole story), but do show enough to stir imagination (include elements that need to be explained by or inspire imagination).