All Things Considered

For this post I would like to direct your attention to a piece that is, in my opinion, as good as it get. Elissa Eubanks is a staff photographer with the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. She made this piece on the return of Evander Holyfield to boxing ring. It is quite clear that Eubanks has gone through all the possibilities of how she wanted to put this story together and considered every detail.
There are a few things here that I want to talk about. First of all I would like to talk about the pace of the piece. It starts off slow and brings the viewer into the story. I tried to imagine it starting with some quick burst of jabs, hooks, or some other boxing move. I think that would have been effective but in a very different way. It is important to consider what type of message you are trying to convey through the work. To me, this piece is about his personal struggle to work harder and harder and the viewer needs the intimate slow pace at the beginning to reach that personal connection. The combination of the slow transitions between images and the dialog bring the viewer into the story. Once Eubanks establishes that connection she can boost the intensity.
Boost the intensity she does, and it works perfectly. This story will be naturally fast paced so it makes a lot of sense to have runs of sequences. But you cant just sequence through an entire piece or your viewer gets overwhelmed. Further, if it doesnt make sense with what is going on in the story than it will just look like you are trying to show off. Eubanks balances everything perfectly, she bursts off some shots and then brings us in close with a detail shot. By going back and forth between fast sequences and single images she is able to keep the viewer's attention and lay out a framework for her story.
Then she brings in the voice overs. By using tracks of Holyfield and his trainer Eubanks keeps the story... a story. I think it often tempting for photographers to showcase their work and try and put an emphasis on there best images. Eubanks doesn't do that, it is all about telling a story of a struggling boxer.
The last thing I want to mention is how well everything works together. When the audio track changes energy so do the visuals. Eubanks doesn't use video or sequencing just because she can, she put it in where she wants it and where it works with the message she is trying to convey.
As far as I am concerned it doesn't get much better than this. This piece is definitely going into my favorites file.