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B+W
O
ne subject I find
provokes a lot of
discussion – and
is something I am
constantly being asked about –
is the slightly vexed question of
captions on our photographs.
These discussions often lead on
to the even more vexed subject of
talking about our images. Should
we do it? Or should we let the
pictures speak for themselves?
Should we discuss our feelings
about a certain image? Should
we tell a little story about how
we came to take that image?
Should I need to tell people
the subject of my latest project
is ‘Discussing and dissecting
my intimate feelings about
the relationship between
man and beetroot in ways
I had never before envisaged,using my father’s old Nikon F
camera and shot entirely on
out of date Ektachrome slide
film, cross-processed in cheap
cider as I sense this perfectly
encapsulates the feelings I had
about and towards beetroot
during my early, awkward
teenage years’? All the pictures
are slightly over-exposed prints
of strangely dressed and heavily
bearded hipsters holding the
aforementioned root vegetable.
If, dear reader, you sense a
certain amount of mickey being
taken in that last paragraph,
let me assure you that you arecorrect. I am, like many people,
tired of photography projects
that have to be explained to
me. There are, in my possibly
jaundiced view, far too many
projects masquerading as art
but using photography only as
the means to an end. These are
the kind of thing I am talking
about above and I think we can
dismiss them.
At the recent retrospective
of Don McCullin’s work at Tate
Britain in London, however,
the captions on his prints were
beautifully simple, almost stark,
and to the point. Captions suchas Homs, Syria 2018 and Homeless
Irishman, Spitalfields, London
1970 were enough to be going
on with, especially when they’re
seen under images so strong
and moving.
Personally speaking, I find
I need to caption some images
and not others. In my travel
photography, for example, the
question ‘where is that?’ is asked
for pretty much every picture
that is not of the Eiffel Tower
or the Houses of Parliament,
so I always add a caption.
However, in the food section
on my website a picture of a
bowl of lemons does not need
a caption saying A bowl of lemons.
I think that in exhibitions
and on websites brevity and
conciseness win the day.COMMENTtimclinchphotography.com
@clinchpicsShould you add captions to your photographs, or let the pictures do
the talking? What should you write in the caption? And what about
social media? Tim Clinch considers these tricky questions.
A FORTNIGHT AT F/ 8‘As with any community of friends and
like-minded individuals, I like a bit of
interaction and a bit of verbosity.’