Narrative comes in two distinctive forms - Linear or Nonlinear
Basic principles of a narrative:
Exposition (Beginning)
Conflict (Middle-ish)
Resolution (End-ish)
In photography it's hard to depict each part of a narrative to make a complete story (narrative). This means that photographic narratives tend to be non-linear.
The Kuleshov Effect
The Kuleshov effect is a film editing (montage) effect demonstrated by Soviet filmmaker Lev Kuleshov in the 1910s and 1920s. It is a mental phenomenon by which viewers derive more meaning from the interaction of two sequential shots than from a single shot in isolation.
Alfred Hitchcock describes the effects of this phenomenon particularly well through the use of this example.
In the first three images the man appears to be smiling quite innocently at the mother with her child. Whereas in the second image the smile seems to be much less sincere, as he looks at a woman in her bikini. In both sets of images the first and last image is exactly the same.
References
Campbell, D. (2017). Photography and narrative: What is involved in telling a story? - David Campbell. [online] David Campbell. Available at: https://www.david-campbell.org/2010/11/18/photography-and-narrative/ [Accessed 29 Nov. 2017].
Elementsofcinema.com. (2017). The Kuleshov Experiment | Basics of Film Editing. [online] Available at: http://www.elementsofcinema.com/editing/kuleshov-effect.html [Accessed 29 Nov. 2017].
En.wikipedia.org. (2017). Kuleshov effect. [online] Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kuleshov_effect [Accessed 29 Nov. 2017].
En.wikipedia.org. (2017). Narrative photography. [online] Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Narrative_photography [Accessed 29 Nov. 2017].
Videomaker.com. (2017). The Kuleshov Effect: Understanding Video Editing’s Most Powerful Tool. [online] Available at: https://www.videomaker.com/article/c10/18236-the-kuleshov-effect-understanding-video-editing%E2%80%99s-most-powerful-tool [Accessed 29 Nov. 2017].