Your Serving of Photography — YSP.000
“A PICTURE IS WORTH A THOUSAND WORDS.”
Is a picture is actually worth a thousand words? That’s what I’ve always heard—but in what way?
We could interpret the above quote in two distinct ways. We could take how it was intended in the early 20th century, that a visual image makes a bigger impact than a thousand words ever could. It makes perfect sense to interpret it that way! Instead, what if we took it to mean an image is worth having a thousand words shared about it?
For a photograph to be good, does it have to stand on it’s own, without any additional information for the viewer? What do you think?
I enjoy seeing the creative work of other photographers. There are images that speak quite well for themselves—I cannot deny that. Those images stop viewers in their tracks and can elicit intense emotions. There are also images that do not elicit strong responses, but are still considered good photographs. However I feel about a particular image, I enjoy learning about the story behind the photo. I know I’m not alone in this as there are entire books, podcasts, magazine articles, live events, and YouTube channels (just to name a few) that are based on the concept of letting the audience in on the behind-the-scenes information about the photo.
The blog posts I write stay locked away for a time before I make them public. Not long after I wrote the previous text (and stowed it away) I heard comments in a couple of podcasts that went along with those thoughts. I was listening to Brooks Jensen’s LensWork Podcast (episode LW1483) entitled “Thoughts on Inventing Our Own Medium” when I heard him say the following:
“…I had been taught…that any photograph that needs text needs to be a better photograph. It took me half a dozen years or so fighting with that concept to realize it was just plain wrong. That, it is possible to use text as a crutch for bad photographs, but it’s also possible to use text and a photograph in a combination that fuses the two of them to make something that’s far more meaningful and far more powerful—far more emotive even—than either the image or the text by themselves. there is a synergy when done properly where image and text create a whole that’s greater than the sum of the parts.”
On a separate podcast, F-Stop, Collaborate, and Listen, hosted by Matt Payne, this topic was also mentioned . His guest for episode 451 was Mike Weinhold. As they were discussing the particulars of creating a photography book, Mike said:
“…don't just title a photo…”Two Ferns”; give it a real title and write a few paragraphs about it. So now I got a few years where every single photograph I have has three to five paragraphs attached…I've always enjoyed writing. And some of my favorite photography books are the ones that don't only just have great images.”
That brings me to what this post is all about. I’d like to share stories behind some of the photographs I’ve made. So the series “Your Serving of Photography” (or YSP) will appear from time to time on the blog where I’ll share posts about selected photographs of various genres. The events that surrounded making the photo and specific information about the image will be highlighted. Some images may be found in galleries on the website while others may only show up in the YSP posts. Keep an eye out for the first serving and I hope you’ll come back for seconds.
