We’ve played around with the rule of thirds, leading lines, different angles, and shooting details, now lets bring it all together into a diptych and a triptych.

What is a Diptych and Triptych

A diptych is a pair of images and a triptych is a trio of images placed together to tell a story or make a comparison.

That’s a deceptively simple definition for a fun technique that when used properly can make twice (or three times) the storytelling impact of a single image. Choosing the two or three photographs to send the message you want the viewer to see is heart of creating diptychs and triptychs.  The images can be of the same scene processed differently or at different moments in time (like a series of a diver entering the water or a child playing with a toy).  Or the images can be of completely different scenes that combine to tell a story or communicate a message.

Examples and Analysis of Diptych and Triptych

I have fond memories of creating Diptych and Triptych for my photography 2 class in college.  I tried to dig those out and had my husband scan the one I could find as well as created a few more.

I’m going to critique each set of images here by asking the following questions. This is also a good model for critiquing the resulting diptych/triptych in our Flickr Group.

• Are the images making a comparison, telling a story, or making a statement, or something else entirely? 
• Verbalize the comparison/story/or statement this set of images makes.
• What could make this set of images stronger?
• What is really effective about this set of images?

 Mountaintop Experiences

• Are the images making a comparison, telling a story, or making a statement, or something else entirely? I think this one from my film days (it’s not the greatest scan… but it’ll do) is just setting a scene.
• Verbalize the comparison/story/or statement this set of images makes. I think if I just saw the middle picture or even the two pictures on the right, you’d think she was just reading a book and eating a bag of chips with a pretty view.  It’s the third photo with the rope and the pack that really sets the scene of a break from climbing.
• What could make this set of images stronger? I wish I’d had a wider angle lens to take this shot.  But I’m pretty sure that there was no more than 10ft across the top of that precipice. It also would have been nicer had they lined up more directly, but again.. not a lot of room to maneuver (and there were at least 5 others up there with us). I think I stood in the same place for all three images.
• What is really effective about this set of images?   I think it’s just an expanded view of a small event.  I like how it just enlarges what your intial thought is looking at the images.

Pealing Potatoes

• Are the images making a comparison, telling a story, or making a statement, or something else entirely?
  Making a statement.
• Verbalize the comparison/story/or statement this set of images makes. When I took saw these two together, I was struck so much by how important it is for my little girls to have strong role models.  The girls are watching everyone and modeling their actions even on the most mundane things. I put these two images together to help me visualize the importance of older girls/women in young girl’s lives.
• What could make this set of images stronger? I shot with a pretty wide depth of field (f/8)  I wish I would have opened up a bit more (maybe f/3) to cut down the distraction of the backdrop. I also wish I would have been a bit closer to the subjects.
• What is really effective about this set of images?  The confused look toward her role model followed by the determination to peal that potato.  It’s her face that makes this strong. I also think the black and white processing helped to focus us on her face.

Boyhood

• Are the images making a comparison, telling a story, or making a statement, or something else entirely? I think they’re most effectively telling a story.
• Verbalize the comparison/story/or statement this set of images makes. One word. Boyhood.  My girls are pretty tom-boyish, but they’re timid at first.  Not Sedryn.  Dirt, check.  Stick, check.  Pants falling off, who cares?
• What could make this set of images stronger? I’m not sure I like the way I have them arranged on this storyboard. I sort of want the two detail shot on the ends and the boy with his self satisfied dirty face in the middle.  I also wish I’d taken them a bit later during his play when he was much messier.
• What is really effective about this set of images? It’s emotional for me.  This boy setting out to conquer the world and starting out with the nearest patch of dirt. But it’s also so mundane.  This is just what little boys do.

I had a good making a statement triptych that I couldn’t find to scan.  An image of a pristine waterfall, a backhoe in a cleared field with a beautiful mountain view in the background, and a broken stop sign in a pick of trash. The statement was the need to keep some areas of the world pristine  I wish you could see it… but I just wanted to give you an idea of how you can make a specific statement like that with your images in a triptych series.

Diptych and Triptych Assignment

Get out there and create 1 diptych and 1 triptych.  Bonus points if you feel inspired to do more than one. In the resources section below, you’ll find some inspiration images as well as tutorials/helps for putting your three images in one frame.  If you want to put them all in one frame, go for it.  If that seems way too much work for you at this time, then just title all your images something like Diptych 1 and Diptych 2 so we know which goes with which.

When you post your images over in the Flickr Group, leave no description beyond maybe a title, and see what others take from your work in their critique comments. You could put the questions in the description if you wanted. After a few comments, feel free to add your own purpose/self-critique.

Comment on 2-5 (or more) of your fellow classmates Diptych/Triptych and answer the following questions in your critique:

• Are the images making a comparison, telling a story, or making a statement, or something else entirely?
• Verbalize the comparison/story/or statement this set of images makes.
• What could make this set of images stronger?
• What is really effective about this set of images?

Resources

Let me share a few extra resources as you create your diptych or triptych.

Inspirational Diptych or Triptych

Get your creative juices flowing by clicking any of the following links for inspiration.

Diptych Photography: The Art of Combining Two Images

Diptych & Triptych: 5 Prime Examples

Collections of Triptych Photography by Adde Adesokan

Triptych: When a Single Picture Won’t Do

Diptych in Flickr Tags

Triptych in Flickr Tags

How to Make a Diptych or Triptych in a Single Frame

You can use photo editing software to make a Diptych or Triptych in a Single Frame.  Here are a few actions/tutorials for making collages in Photoshop Elements/Photoshop or Lightroom as well as a free software program that you could use to make your diptych and triptych.

Creating a Triptych in Lightroom (same technique would work for a diptych.  I don’t have Lightroom… so you’re on your own for this one!)

A free PSE/PS action for a Diptych (One horizontal and one vertical image)

A free PSE/PS action for a Diptych (Two vertical images)

A Set of Free Actions including two Diptych (Two horizontal/two vertical… I use this whole set all the time!)

A free PSE/PS action for a Triptych (3 vertical images)

CollageIt (Free Program for creating collages on Windows or Mac. I have no experience with this… just thought it might be helpful if we didn’t have photo editing software.)

Please let us know in the comments if you know of another way to make simple collages for this assignment! Use links if you can.

I can’t wait to see what stories you tell with these!