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CONTEST ENDED – Thank you for submitting your stories!

#258: Frame of Mind

What do you think of when you hear the word "photography?" In a general sense, it involves preserving memories or documenting events — and while not everyone considers it an art form, you’ve probably snapped photos of your family, friends, or even food at some point with your phone!


With that in mind, this week’s theme focuses (no pun intended!) on photography and the stories and emotions that pictures can create.

This week's prompts

A forgotten photograph tucked away somewhere is the catalyst for an unexpected journey.

Adventure – 87 stories

Center your story around two strangers who bond over their shared love of photography.

Character – 30 stories

Write a story where a photograph could change the course of history if it’s delivered to the right (or wrong!) person.

Short Story – 32 stories

Start your story with someone who has lost everything but finds solace in photography.

Dramatic – 63 stories

A photographer captures an image of something unexplainable. What happens next?

Mystery – 75 stories

Stories

“Three's A Crowd” by Jane Andrews

Submitted to Contest #258

I re-read the letter, noting the time and date of the celebration. A part of me thinks I should go; another more cautious side of me whispers that I shouldn’t bother. But there was a time, once, when Stef was my best friend…              The cardboard box has been under my bed for so long that it’s accumulated enough dust to make me sneeze. I find a cloth and wipe down the outside carefully before removing the lid. Memories I’ve kept hidden for years stare at me – relics o...

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“Finding Alwar. ” by Addison Frame

Submitted to Contest #258

As I push it open, the door creaks, revealing cool lighting and that new apartment smell that I've found filling my nose a lot over the past few weeks. My sneakers press against white tiles as I move through my new apartment, freshly bought. I stride into the kitchen, setting bags of groceries down on the white marble counter. "Organization," I murmur to myself as I take groceries out of the bags, my eyes flicking over the kitchen. "My favorite." I open the silver steel fridge, finding a spot to slide egg cartons onto the white rack. I've ju...

2 comments 2
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“AI & Photography: The Double-Edged Lens” by Victoria Davis

Submitted to Contest #258

AI & Photography: The Double-Edged LensIn the not-so-distant past, photography was an art that captured moments, memories, and milestones in life. With the advent of Artificial Intelligence (AI), this art form has taken on new dimensions, offering both remarkable opportunities and significant challenges. This story explores the double-edged nature of combining AI with photography, shedding light on its benefits and downfalls, and emphasizing the importance of being mindful in the digital age.Chapter 1: The Rise of AI in PhotographyIn a s...

4 comments 4
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“ Framing Solace” by Jonathan Chen

Submitted to Contest #258

Jackson Kane had lost everything. The fire had taken his home, reducing it to ash in a matter of hours. He watched, numb, as the flames devoured his life. His wife, Emily, and daughter, Sophie, had been the first to go in a tragic accident years before. The fire was just the final blow, stripping him of the last remnants of his former world.Jackson drifted through the days like a ghost, barely acknowledging the pitying glances of the townspeople or the whispered conversations that ceased when he entered a room. He rented a small, dingy apart...

3 comments 3
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“A Jamaican Life” by Angela Rainbolt

Submitted to Contest #258

Nothing. No furniture. No plants. No dishes. So, this is what you get for falling in love and trusting. She had left for work and he took advantage and left with everything. She was more than a thousand miles away from family and, despite the severity of the situation, she didn’t want to bother them with her problems. In the coming days, she would find out the extent of his betrail but, for now, she sat on the floor and cried.  “Sis, I’m either stating the obvious or being incredibly rude, but you look awful.” Blair looked at Trish and ...

6 comments 6
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“Just a Moment” by Sally Sunflower

Submitted to Contest #258

I was looking for Grandma's old banana bread recipe. A fresh loaf of banana bread with a little vanilla ice cream would be just perfect for dessert tonight. I remember when Grandma would make that bread and the smell it had fresh out of the oven. It was a dear childhood memory. How lucky we felt to have Grandma call us and say that the bread was done. She gave us a slice while it was still warm out-of-the-oven with a glass of cold milk. I searched the kitchen 'junk drawer' for Grandma's recipe notebook and finally found the old recipe no...

4 comments 4
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“Between the pages” by Gemma Kovacs

Submitted to Contest #258

As I arrived at my mother's house, my chest hollowed as her memory filled my mind. It had been a month now since she had passed, and though I had laid her to rest the week before, I still felt numb inside.I know grief takes many forms, but the constant emptiness was exhausting. Father had left when I was an infant, so for years it had just been me and her. Yet now it was just me.I felt the key shake in my hand as I tried to twist it in the lock. I blink away the tears that were forming in the corners of my eyes and try to cast away the memor...

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“Unretirement” by Autumn Trathnonen

Submitted to Contest #258

Dust fell away from the old book, its leather bindings seemingly impervious to the effects of Time’s great cogs. Silver engraving, scroll work of surpassing quality seemed to shift in the soft lantern light, sometimes appearing as thorny vines, others as flickering tongues of flame, or a hoarfrost coat. Fascinating artistry, I’d never seen anything like it before. The artisan who’d lavished their craft on this book had clearly possessed surpassing talent, and I felt a touch of pride in calling myself its new owner, a sense of ...

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“Blackwood Manor” by Alex Twyman

Submitted to Contest #258

I stepped into what looked like the living room of Blackwood Manor with my camera slung over my shoulder. The first thing I noticed was an old blue couch that sat in the middle, its upholstery now faded and torn. In front of the couch was a coffee table, coated in layers of dust along its surface. To the right of the couch was a red armchair with sagging cushions and impressions still left behind. In the back corner, stood a grandfather clock with its arms and pendulum frozen in time.I ran my finger along the table, leaving behind a clean tr...

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“Picture This” by Malcolm Twigg

Submitted to Contest #258

They say that a picture paints a thousand words. What would you say if I told you that photographs spew out a whole lexicon - literally? Never heard of a talking photograph? I wish I hadn’t.I mean, sure, you do get these AI induced talking photos nowadays, but there is an intermediary process involved. You have to put words into their mouths in the first place. At least at the moment. When AI gets to access written documentation and extrapolate around it, that's when it starts to get really creepy.For the rest of you, that is. Me? ...

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“An Absence of Light ” by Hannah Baker

Submitted to Contest #258

Trigger warning: death For my grandmother’s birthday, I gifted her a Polaroid photo of a horseshoe crab. It had washed up on the beach earlier that day, dead but intact, its sepia shell starting to cement itself under the wet sand. I tacked the photo up on her wall, next to her framed newspaper clipping of a warehouse fire.  “Didn’t think to bring me the real thing?” She asked, setting down her magnifying glass on top of today’s obituaries.  “You don’t want the smell, trust me.” I laughed. “Plus, it’s the best photo from this thin...

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“The House on Station Road” by James Johnson

Submitted to Contest #258

Dr Mather’s husband retrieved the photographs from the attic sometime one Saturday afternoon in late summer. They came to him by chance when, stooping beneath the rafters, he spotted a tear in an insulation roll tucked into one corner of the loft floor. His curious hand had burrowed deep into the woollen pile and pulled out one of those photo wallets used for returning printed photographs. It had lost the glossiness of its heyday, but was dry and the logo of the now-defunct camera company was visible beneath a stock photo of a family pi...

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“A Family Out of Focus” by Nancy Wright

Submitted to Contest #258

*Trigger warning: Familial loss, mental health. Marla wakes up today much as she does every morning: sobbing and pawing at the damp sheets, screaming for someone, anyone, to save her children. Talk to them a few minutes longer after soccer practice. Invite them to ice cream a mile in the other direction. Pull them from the car before Mac can pop in that old Steely Dan CD and pull onto the highway. Stop the driver, out of his mind on coke, from plowing into the car in the first place.  But of course no one is here to answer her cries, no...

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“Exposure To Darkness ” by Lee Kendrick

Submitted to Contest #258

Exposure To DarknessBy Lee KendrickRon Goodward had been a photographer for twenty-four years, since he was age twenty. Photographing: weddings, portraits, and work for magazines.Back in his photographic studio in Swindon, Wiltshire, he was working late preparing his darkroom for processing photographs he had taken of numerous ancient sites in Wiltshire -including Stonehenge and the large Mound at Silbury Hill for an archaeology magazine.  Turning off the light, he then switched on the red light for processing the fi...

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“Love Knows No Bounds” by Sandi Torrini

Submitted to Contest #258

Sarah was only thirteen when boys started noticing her. She was a beautiful girl with long auburn hair and mesmerizing green eyes. Her parents said she had to wait until she was fifteen to date. She agreed and decided to focus on her schoolwork and other interests. She studied hard and pursued her interests in art, drama and music. She developed her artistic talent and made a lot of friends. She became a beautiful young woman with a wild independent spirit that refused to be broken. During her senior year Zach Whitherspoon, th...

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$250

Prize money

287

Contest entries

88

Stories

Ended on 23:59 - Jul 12, 2024 EST

Won by Rozmarin Ideas 🏆

Title: She Owed Nothing to Ghosts.

Submissions must be between 1,000 - 3,000 words and will be approved and published on Reedsy Prompts within 7 days of the contest closing.

Read the full terms & conditions or check out the FAQ if you have any questions!

Prompts | Big Blue Hand | 2024-11

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