On Feb 15, 2007, at 9:21 PM, Boris Liberman wrote: > My recent question to Tom C and his response provoked a topic for > discussion. Unless you object of course ;-). > > Do you think that truly excellent photographs require no title? Do you > think that sometimes giving a "No Title" will actually be good for the > photograph and the viewer? > > What do you say?
Didn't we have this discussion in the recent past? It is an interesting discussion and bears revisiting now and again anyway. Titles change the interpretation of a photograph. They present meaningful context that changes how the photo is perceived. That said, for sake of putting photographs on display at an exhibition or for sale, they must be titled somehow ... whether you use "This Photograph Intentionally Untitled #00201" or "Rose In Garden", you must put a title on each piece. Each of those titles will guide a viewers thinking, whether you like it or not. The generic "Untitled" itself is a statement when applied to a piece of work. I usually put titles onto individual photos near the end of my production process. I don't like to use titles that will lead the viewer into a particular train of thought, usually, as I like the viewers of the photos to be able to form their own notions of what the photo is about. So I usually use titles that are simple declaratives rendered from the individual photo with a "extension" for location and year. E.g., from my "Traveler In London" set (http:// www.gdgphoto.com/traveler/): Inhale : London 2005 Hidden : South Bank, London 2005 Sax Under Bridge : South Bank, London 2004 Ladies On A Bench : South Bank, London 2004 etc. Sometimes I feel that the pieces in a series should not be identified individually as they are part of some larger work which carries the theme, then I use a number series reflective of the set's title, like in "Kitchen Spaces" (http://www.gdgphoto.com/kitchen/): Kitchen Spaces #02 - Isle of Man, 2006 Kitchen Spaces #03 - Isle of Man, 2006 Kitchen Spaces #07 - Isle of Man, 2006 Kitchen Spaces #12 - Isle of Man, 2006 etc. My general rule is to try to keep it simple and leave the viewer's appreciation neutral. Of course, now and again I like to have some fun so I enjoyed putting titles on the "Window People" set which show up on each photo in the set as it is displayed: http://www.gdgphoto.com/windowpeople/ So far, based on the responses I've gotten, this last has produced the desired effect ... and people are enjoying it. ;-) Godfrey -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List [email protected] http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net
