Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2015/05/29
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]There is also the point that under certain circumstances the use of a caption can influence the viewers interpretation of the image to the detriment of the original intention of the photographer. Gerry Sent from my iPad > On 29 May 2015, at 15:19, Robert Baron <robertbaron1 at gmail.com> wrote: > > An interesting point of view, Jayanand, and to be honest not one I had > really considered before you raised it. Maybe that is because her > photographs ring true to me as depictions of the culture I am part of, but > I'll need to think about that some more. > > Even the photographs she made of cultures I am not familiar with have the > ring of truth to them, in my opinion, and I now think about the war zone > photographs of shooters like James Nachtwey and wonder if they need > captions and if not why not? Would you think Salgado's famous photographs > of the gold mine or of the train station need text? An argument can be > made that some things should allow for use of the viewer's imagination - or > sense of investigation if the viewer wants to learn more about the subject. > > Educators trying to teach students (or trial lawyers like me trying to > teach a jury) will say you should not spoon feed every bit of information > to the audience but leave some for the audience to figure out; it is better > learned and retained that way. Should that maxim also apply to > documentary/documenting photography? > > Again: you raise an interesting point and I'm going to think about it. > > Regards, > > --Bob > > > > ===On Thu, May 28, 2015 at 10:41 PM, Jayanand Govindaraj <jayanand at > gmail.com >> wrote: > >> Bob, >> Interesting. TFS. >> >> What struck me is that most of the pictures have no emotional impact for >> me, like the girls in the gang on the street, without her narration, as I >> am not steeped in the nitty gritties of US culture. Goes against what Kyle >> says that one of her tenets was, about not having a caption. I think that >> is valid when you have a mono cultural, homogenous viewership for your >> work, but once you have a cross cultural audience, a little explanation, >> like a caption, is invaluable to create the emotional impact! Of course, >> this observation is for the sort of photographs that she took, and >> obviously would apply to a much lesser extent for nature/wildlife and that >> sort of thing, but even there, giving the frame "a local habitation and a >> name" does help in pulling the viewer emotionally into the frame. >> >> My two bits! >> >> Cheers >> Jayanand >> >> On Fri, May 29, 2015 at 6:29 AM, Robert Baron <robertbaron1 at gmail.com> >> wrote: >> >>> https://vimeo.com/80793010 >>> >>> View full screen. It is worth seeing and listening to I think, not so >> much >>> because of Leica but because of Mary Ellen Mark. >>> >>> --Bob > > _______________________________________________ > Leica Users Group. > See http://leica-users.org/mailman/listinfo/lug for more information