The best photographs tell a story, whether real or imagined. In the online visual journaling workshop, Once Upon a Time: Photographs have Stories to Tell, we practice telling three types of stories – ambiguous, personal, and documentary (as described in this article from Digital Photography School).
As someone not practice in telling fictional stories, I was surprised by how fun it was to try the ambiguous (or imagined) story. With the photograph below, I created a story called Secret Garden. First, I wondered about might have planted the beautiful garden seen beyond the white picket fence. The story evolved from there and I surprised myself with the ending.
Secret Garden
Secret Garden
There was a time when I was allowed inside of this fence. I cared for this secret garden. As a matter of fact, I planted most of what is still here.
But that was many, many years ago. Back then, I felt like a part of the family. We saw each other every day in the garden and they always stopped to have a conversation. Sometimes, they would even invite me to take a break and have a cup of tea or cold lemonade with them. There was lots of laughter and I felt like I belonged. I thought they truly cared for me.
As I grew older, the manual labour became more difficult. One day, they gently suggested that it was time for a new gardener. They thanked me for my many years of service.
The new gardener is keeping the garden up well. I only know because I peep through the fence every once in awhile. I miss the family and my flowers.