Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2015/05/29
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]Gerry, Doesn't that mean that the photographer was lazy with the wording of his caption? Cheers Jayanand On Fri, May 29, 2015 at 8:43 PM, Gerry Walden <gerry.walden at icloud.com> wrote: > 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 > > _______________________________________________ > Leica Users Group. > See http://leica-users.org/mailman/listinfo/lug for more information >