Story telling in contemporary art makes references to fables, fairy tales, apocryphal events and modern myths. Some photos in the genre of Tableau photography are more open ended. We don't see how it’s set up but the finished piece of art that we are left to decide for ourselves what the story is by the visual narrative in the frame. With Tableau photography we can see a story by the narrative in a one frame, whereas normally we rely on a series of images to lead us to or own conclusion. However, this is something that we have been doing for years. When we look at a painting we look for visual clues in order to gather and opinion on what it’s about and any deeper meaning is shown in a painting obvious or not, it’s there for us to see. This photo by Jeff Wall, Passerby, tells a story of strangers crossing paths at night which is something that our society is aware of. The lighting, time and body language of the ‘strangers’ makes us suspicious. Even the discreet stop sign in the distance acts as a warning. When we look at this image everything about it tells us that something isn’t right. The fact that it’s a situation that we can all relate to makes it even more disturbing. We see a stranger at night, all we want to do is get as far away from them as possible because we can’t trust what they’ll do.
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