Welcome to the third lesson in our module on building a body of work. In our last session, you moved from the drawing board to the field, applying intentional shooting strategies to translate your project concept into a tangible set of images. You now have the raw material—a collection of photographs born from your plan.
Today, we confront one of the most challenging and defining stages of creating an artistic project: curation. This lesson focuses on the critical skill of evaluation. You will learn how to distinguish between a photograph that is merely strong, beautiful, or technically perfect, and one that genuinely serves and advances your project's central concept. Your background in fine arts and sculpture has trained you to see how individual elements contribute to a unified whole; we will now apply that same rigorous eye to your own photographs. The objective is to learn how to "kill your darlings"—to set aside powerful standalone images if they don't contribute to the larger narrative you are building.
The Artist's Dilemma: A Single Story or a Chapter?
The first step in evaluating your images is to understand the fundamental difference between a single, self-contained photograph and one that functions as part of a series. Some photographers dedicate their careers to hunting for the single, perfect frame that tells a complete story. Others, like those building a photo book, work more like novelists, weaving together multiple images to create a complex, multi-layered narrative.
The Magnum Photos article, "Telling Stories: the Single Image vs. the Series," frames this debate perfectly through the work of two different photographers.
Telling Stories: the Single Image vs. the Series - Magnum Photos
This article from Magnum Photos presents two opposing, yet equally valid, approaches to photographic storytelling, which will help clarify the kind of images we need for a photo book project.
Please read the section on Matt Stuart, who exemplifies the search for the powerful single image. Then, read the section on Patrick Zachmann, whose work is built on long-term projects and series. As you read, consider how a "Matt Stuart" image might be compelling on its own but could potentially disrupt the flow of a "Patrick Zachmann" project.
Your goal is to build a cohesive project, an approach that aligns with Patrick Zachmann's philosophy. This means that even if you capture a stunning, story-rich, "perfect" single image, you must ask if it belongs in this particular story.
What Makes It a Project?
To decide if an image fits, you must be ruthlessly clear about what your project is. A project is not just a collection of photos of the same subject; it is a body of work unified by a specific, personal idea.
Photographer Adam Marelli offers a wonderfully simple definition that cuts to the heart of the matter. Let's watch a short segment where he explains this.
Developing Your Photo Projects | Adam Marelli
In this video, "Developing Your Photo Projects," Adam Marelli gives a clear, practical definition of a project and distinguishes it from a simple collection of images.
First, watch the clip where Marelli defines a project as an idea too big for a single photograph. Then, watch his explanation of the difference between a collection and a project, where he notes that a project contains an idea specific to you, the photographer.
Marelli's point is crucial: genres like "street photography" or "landscape" are categories, not concepts. Your project's concept is the unique idea or question you are exploring through those genres.
This book cover is an excellent example. The images are not conventionally beautiful. They are visually consistent, however, and together they evoke a complex set of ideas about memory, identity, and documentation. A technically perfect, sunny portrait would be a strong standalone image, but it would be utterly wrong for this project.
A Framework for Objective Curation
Emotion and memory are the enemies of good editing. You remember the effort it took to get a shot, the feeling of the sun on your back, or the brief connection with a subject. A viewer sees none of this. They only see the image. To make objective decisions, you need a clear, analytical framework.
Photographer Ming Thein provides an excellent set of criteria he uses for judging and curating work.
Curation, judging and objectivity - Ming Thein | Photographer
This article by Ming Thein offers a disciplined, professional framework for evaluating photographs, moving beyond subjective preference.
First, read the paragraph where Thein notes that the most common limitation in competition entries is that they don't fit the theme. Then, study the paragraph where he outlines his four specific criteria for curation.
Let's codify Thein's criteria into a checklist you can use to evaluate every photograph from your shoot:
- Conceptual Relevance: Does this image directly address my project's central theme? Does it advance the narrative or deepen the inquiry?
- Aesthetic Harmony: Does the image's visual language (color palette, light quality, composition, mood) align with the overall aesthetic of the project?
- Technical Proficiency: Is the image technically sound for its intended purpose? (A soft, grainy, or out-of-focus image can be a powerful choice if it serves the concept).
- Relativity & Distinction: Is this the strongest version of this particular moment or idea that I captured? Is it sufficiently different from other images in the selection to warrant its inclusion?
The Ultimate Test: "So What?"
Beyond any checklist, the most powerful question you can ask of any image is: "So what?"
Why should a viewer care about this image in the context of your book? What does it add? If you can't articulate a clear answer, the image is likely a candidate for removal, no matter how much you love it. Adam Marelli articulates this as the "Conclusion" part of his project development framework.
Developing Your Photo Projects | Adam Marelli
Let's return to Adam Marelli's video to focus on his powerful "So What?" question, which serves as the ultimate test for an image's inclusion.
Watch the section from 00:13:37 to 00:18:52, where he explains his three-column framework of Inspiration, Observation, and Conclusion. Pay close attention to his description of the "Conclusion" column, which he defines as the "So what?"—the part that explains why anyone should care.
This question forces you to move past "I like this photo" to "This photo is necessary because..."
Navigating the Pitfalls of Self-Editing
Applying these frameworks is difficult, especially with your own work. There are several common traps that photographers fall into during the curation process. Being aware of them is the first step to avoiding them.
How To Edit and Sequence Photo Projects & Books (ft. Noah Waldeck)
In this video, publisher Noah Waldeck and photographer Kyle McDougall discuss the practical challenges of editing a photo project. Their conversation highlights several key pitfalls to avoid.
Please watch the following three segments: First, on the difficulty of self-editing, watch from 00:22:08 to 00:24:09. They discuss how personal memories get in the way and suggest giving yourself distance from the work. Next, on avoiding the "greatest hits," watch from 00:24:09 to 00:26:56. They explain that a project needs rhythm and quiet moments, not just the "loudest" images. Finally, listen to a concrete example of cutting strong images from 00:18:51 to 00:20:12. They describe how some photos, despite being good, felt "jarring" in the sequence and were removed to strengthen the book.
The key takeaways here are practical and profound. An image's value is not inherent; it is determined by its relationship to the images around it. A project needs variety and pacing, just like a piece of music needs dynamics, or a sculpture needs both textured and smooth surfaces.
Your Turn: The First Culling
It's time to apply these principles to the images you created in the last lesson. This exercise is about practicing the process of disciplined evaluation.
- Get Some Distance: If you can, wait at least a day after your shoot before starting this process. This aligns with the advice from Ming Thein and Noah Waldeck to reduce emotional attachment.
- Lay Them Out: Arrange all the unedited images from your shoot where you can see them at once. Printing small, cheap proofs is ideal, but a digital contact sheet (e.g., in Adobe Lightroom or Bridge) also works.
- The Gut Sort: Quickly go through the images and sort them into three groups without overthinking:
- "Yes": Images that you feel immediately resonate with your project concept.
- "No": Images that are technically flawed, uninteresting, or clearly off-concept. Be ruthless here.
- "Maybe": Images that are strong and you like them, but you're not sure how they fit. This is often the most dangerous pile.
- The Analytical Cull: Set the "No" pile aside permanently. Now, take your "Yes" and "Maybe" piles and scrutinize each image using the frameworks we've discussed. For every single photo, ask yourself:
- Does it pass Ming Thein's four criteria (Conceptual Relevance, Aesthetic Harmony, Technical Proficiency, Relativity)?
- Can I answer Adam Marelli's "So what?" question for this image in one or two sentences?
- Make the Hard Decisions: Your goal is to move every image from the "Maybe" pile into either the "Yes" or "No" pile. If you have to work hard to justify an image's inclusion, it probably doesn't belong.
By the end of this exercise, you should have a much smaller, more potent selection of images that form the initial core of your project.
Conclusion
You've now taken a major step from being a photographer to being an author and a curator. You've learned that a project's strength comes not from a collection of individual masterpieces, but from the deliberate selection of images that work together to express a singular vision. By applying objective frameworks like Thein's criteria and asking the tough "So what?" question, you can begin to shape your raw material into a cohesive and compelling body of work. This discipline—the willingness to discard good work in favor of the right work—is what elevates a photo book from an album to a work of art.
With this first, core selection of images established, you are now in a position to see your project more clearly. You can see not only what is strong, but also what is missing. In our next lesson, we will analyze this core selection to identify gaps in your narrative and plan targeted shoots to fill them, further refining and completing your body of work.