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tomdinning started the forum topic Question 1 Does a photo need a caption? in the group QUESTION TIME?: 12y, 10mo ago
The photograph is a visual medium. It is assumed we will get the message from the contents of the image. Or will we? How many of you put a title to your images when you display them? ‘Cat under car tire’ or ‘Dead toad in drain pipe’ sort of thing. Or better still; ‘Untitled #4’. […]
In a perfect world, I’d prefer the image to speak for itself. As fine as a photograph may be, I catch myself wincing inwardly at titles like “Autumn Reveries.†No slight intended to any actual photo—I just made that up.
A title is often redundant. I have a lot of titles of the type Ash names here, without need, by a kind of thoughtlessness, to connect the photo to the file in my computer, for no special need realy. Other times I withess myself name the obvious which is no need to speak out, or connect to a place or time that realy does not matter in the story the photo tells. I have scanned through the photos on my flickr and seen how many titles are saying nothing at all, or eaven worse, distracting the story of the photo like here.
Saying that, I also see sometimes see that the story gets so personal and so local that it may not have meaning for others without a connection
And as afterthought I wonder if any of them need the title. Yes some wiewer need the extra information in the title to see the meaning I see and give the photo a value. Others will eventually see quite other meaning, wether that is good or bad ….
Its up to the photographer. I add titles & tags, not very consistently, but add