Frame-by-frame storytelling
The best example of this type of storytelling is the classic cartoon strip that has been in use for over 100 years and is still employed in graphic novels. It is understood that time passes from one frame to the next and, in some case, place also changes (as can be seen from changes in the illustrated background in each frame).
Boys Will Be Boys, created in 1909 by Harry Grant Dart.
Unbroken chain of narrative
Before the frame-by-frame approach demonstrated above, some historical narratives were related in an unbroken visual story that was read sequentially. In many cases, the story was told only in images while others included text. The Sainte-Chapelle stained glass windows below show the narrative of the Old and New Testaments without words, while in the Bayeux Tapestry key elements of the narrative are described in Latin text.
Sainte-Chapelle, Paris
A detail from the Bayeux Tapestry showing Latin narrative
Motion or speed lines
Commonly seen in cartoons, "motion lines" or "speed lines" clearly indicate direction and speed of a moving object. The more rapid the implied motion, the longer and more severe the lines which can be reinforced by blurring or elongating the moving figure. The cartoon here reminded me of a well-known photograph by Jacques-Henri Lartigue that distorts movement because of the technical characteristics of the shutter in the camera he used. I suspect that a number of the conventions we use to show motion did not exist before the invention of the camera, because the unaided human eye would simply not seen movement this way. (No doubt someone has already written about this at length...).
Use of speech bubbles
- John Bull bringing Bony's nose to the Grindstone, 1814 (colour litho). William Elmes.
- All We Are Saying, 2010 (acrylic on wood & canvas). PJ Crook.
Portrayal of clocks, calendars, hour glasses
- Measuring time, 1973 (gouache on paper). Wilfred Hardy.
Maps
By themselves, maps generally provide a visual representation of a particular place. When coupled with lines or other interpretive overlays they can also indicate movement or other changes over time.
A map showing the journey of the Israelites out of Egypt and into Canaan, facsimile of an image from the Geneva Bible of 1560 (engraving)
Map of Toronto subway system. Toronto Transit Commission.
Changing light and/or season for passage of time
We are so attuned to the change of seasons—and even the changes of the hours of the day—that we sometimes take for granted how we constantly read the quality of light associated with a particular hour, or the colours connected with a particular month or season. But we read them all the time and they have great interpretive and emotional weight for us.
Illustration showing the changing of seasons on a single tree from www.planet-science.com
Subject or background movement
Even without the leading lines described above, we associate blurring of an image with movement. And we instantly make judgements about which planes are moving relative to others based on what appears to be sharp and what appears blurred. For example, when the foreground is sharp and the background is blurred—especially when a frame appears in the image—we generally assume that we are on a moving platform or in a vehicle.
![Train Window - Green Pine{车窗-青松]. Zhang Xiaogang 张晓刚2010](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5224bdefe4b0f7b35c282f4d/1488939247018-YFOP2WCTXKYP4TKMJGKY/55e1ef71-eacf-4603-88f0-e75da8552b87_l.jpg)
Train Window - Green Pine{车窗-青松]. Zhang Xiaogang 张晓刚2010
Stages of life, aging
We take for granted that all living things age, die and decay. When we see a series of images that show people or other living things at different stages of life we are able to set them in chronological order without too much effort. The annual images Nicholas Nixon has made of four sisters since 1975 (two of which appear below) is an example of this: we know which picture was taken first and which later.
The Brown Sisters, 1975. Nicholas Nixon.
The Brown Sisters, 2012. Nicholas Nixon.
Signposts, place names
Although perhaps a bit obvious and maybe overlooked, the simplest way to designate a place is to put a sign on it. Our built environment is so full of signs that we might be overwhelmed by them, or register only those that stand out, as in the street scene in Las Vegas. The image below, taken in Iceland, has only one sign but it is intended to give information and a framework for understanding the geology of the place in front of the viewer.
Fremont East District, Las Vegas. 2016.
Hvannadalshnjúkur, Iceland. 2015.
Reflection
I've found that image-making as a whole has gone through important changes, but I think that some of the most significant changes may be related to the technology we have available to us, Those technological conventions have then been carried over into the visual arts. For example, the cartoon above that shows motion lines reminded me of a well-known photograph by Jacques-Henri Lartigue that distorts the shape of a car wheel because of the technical characteristics of the shutter in the camera he used. I suspect that a number of the conventions we use to show motion did not exist before the invention of the camera, because the unaided human eye would simply not seen movement this way. (No doubt someone has already written about this at length...). In the same way, I wonder if the use of frame-by-frame narration was connected with the invention of animation techniques.
Grand Prix of the Automobile Club of France, Course at Dieppe, 1912. Jacques-Henri Lartigue.
In terms of researching this piece, I have to admit that I found it frustrating at times. It wasn't so much the process itself—starting with initial search terms, reviewing the results, refining and combining search terms to get more useful and illustrative results—it had more to do with copyright limitations on images on particular websites and/or the limitations of search engines on the websites of major galleries and image collections. In general, it is far easier to use a powerful search engine like Google that is much more configurable and fast, although the fact that it pulls up everything can be a downside: whose image is this? Can I use it for study purposes? Is this a good representation? Is the information about the image accurate?