The core structure for a ballad is a quatrain, written in either abcb or abab rhyme schemes. The first and third lines are iambic tetrameter, with four beats per line; the second and fourth lines are in trimeter, with three beats per line. A complicated structure for sure by which to relay a story to music or through the spoken word. It takes understanding and a way with words to even complete let alone master. I am not that person but I will try.

The word ‘ballad’ comes from the Latin ‘ballare’ which means to dance and it is the combination of the academic requirements of the ballad and the sense of dance that I considered when I began this article. Photography requires an element of technical knowledge, but its essential requirements are a sense of the dance of life and an ability for storytelling. Ballads are found in many musical traditions around the world and have taken on various forms throughout history, from medieval folk songs to modern pop and rock ballads. They cover the ground of subject matter and form. They recount tales of love, war, betrayal, tragedy, and folklore. Ballads unfold events over time, with a beginning, middle, and an end. They are to me the closest art form outside of photography to the photographic story.

So, what has this got to do with the misinformed photographer I hear you cry! Well, let me respond to your question by joining photography with the ballad form through a photographic ballad for our times written by a hopefully informed photographer. Me!

The Ballad of the Misinformed Photographer (With Apologies to John Henry)

When the photographer was a little tiny baby 
Sitting on their mama’s knee, 
They picked up a camera and a subscription to Youtube 
Saying, “Photography is going to be the birth of me, Lord, Lord, 
Photography going to be the best of me.” 

The photographer opened up an Instagram account, 
Nearly one hundred followers in just a few days. 
He’d photograph the streets of his town all day, all night 
And never get tired and want to rest, Lord, Lord, 
And never get tired and want to rest. 

The photographer started using Photoshop, making his images bright
And he looked to make his horizons straight. 
Photography was so big and the photographer was so small, 
He laid down his camera and he cried, “Lord, Lord,” 
He laid down his camera and he cried. 

The photographer said to the internet, 
“How can I get better? What do I need to do?
Give me a new and better camera, please, 
And I’ll beat that photography down, Lord, Lord, 
I’ll beat that photography down.” 

The internet said to the photographer, 
“Your priorites are wrong, the medium is complex.” 
But the photographer said, “Just you stand aside
It’s nothing that my photoshop can’t do, Lord, Lord, 
It’s nothing that my photoshop can’t do.” 

The photographer said to the professional, 
“Professional, boy, you better start to pray, 
‘Cause my camera will get that photograph and, 
Tomorrow’ll be your burying day, Lord, Lord, 
Tomorrow’ll be your burying day.” 

The photographer said to those on social media, 
“Photography is nothing but a camera, 
But before I listen to what you say, 
I’d die with a camera in my hand, Lord, Lord, 
I’d die with a camera in my hand.” 

The man that invented photography, 
He figured he was mighty high and fine, 
But the photographer made thousands of images 
While the others only made ninety-nine, Lord, Lord, 
The others only made ninety-nine. 

The photographer photographed on the right-hand side. 
The others kept photographing on the left. 
The photographer beat that camera down. 
But he hammered his poor camera to death, Lord, Lord, 
He hammered his camera to death. 

Well, they carried the photographer down the street
And they laid him on his own camera bags. 
Now every person walking down that street
Says, “There lies the misinformed photographer, Lord, Lord, 
There lies the misinformed photographer.”

A ballad with a not so happy ending. Not a preaching ballad but a suggestive ballad in an appropriate way. I’m sure you could do better than me. If you do let me know. In the meantime take this ballad in the spirit it is intended. A light hearted tale that may or may not be based on a true character, story or stories. Only you know the truth…

Dr.Grant Scott
After fifteen years art directing photography books and magazines such as Elle and Tatler, Scott began to work as a photographer for a number of advertising and editorial clients in 2000. Alongside his photographic career Scott has art directed numerous advertising campaigns, worked as a creative director at Sotheby’s, art directed foto8magazine, founded his own photographic gallery, edited Professional Photographer magazine and launched his own title for photographers and filmmakers Hungry Eye. He founded the United Nations of Photography in 2012, and is now a Senior Lecturer and Subject Co-ordinator: Photography at Oxford Brookes University, Oxford, and a BBC Radio contributor. Scott is the author of Professional Photography: The New Global Landscape Explained (Routledge 2014), The Essential Student Guide to Professional Photography (Routledge 2015), New Ways of Seeing: The Democratic Language of Photography (Routledge 2019), and What Does Photography Mean To You? (Bluecoat Press 2020). His photography has been published in At Home With The Makers of Style (Thames & Hudson 2006), Crash Happy: A Night at The Bangers (Cafe Royal Books 2012) and Inside Vogue House: One building, seven magazines, sixty years of stories (Orphans Publishing 2024). His film Do Not Bend: The Photographic Life of Bill Jay was premiered in 2018.

© Grant Scott 2025