Sat, July 31st, 2004 by matt osullivan
Out of curiosity I just went through all the photos on my site and found that about 1/3 include words in a significant way.
I'm wondering if anyone else has noticed the same thing in their own photography, or can point me towards any photographers who might be relevant to this.
Thanks!
New server!
July 31st, 2004 at 2:56 pm
I don't know about my own work; although I often use words in shots as titles I don't think they're ever significant. At best they're humourous:
http://members.lycos.co.uk/jamescoglan/index.php?id=50
http://members.lycos.co.uk/jamescoglan/index.php?id=49
What I wanted to ask was: I just stopped by the site of London graffiti artist Banksy; one of his pieces is the words 'This is not a photo opportunity' stenciled on various landmarks.
http://www.banksy.co.uk/outdoors/sticker.html
I know I saw a photoblogger shoot one of these pieces not too long ago - who was it and where was it shot? A link to the photo would be great.
July 31st, 2004 at 3:14 pm
heya matto,
this is weird because i was just writing someone else about this very subject. about 20 percent of my photographs on my site so far include words usually via signs as my post for today does. some of my favorite photographers of all time also enjoyed using words as either a subject or an accessory in their images. here are a few of the most famous/infamous ones.
paul strand :
http://www.masters-of-photography.com/S/strand/strand_blind_full.html
walker evans :
http://www.masters-of-photography.com/E/evans/evans_penny_picture_display_full.html
robert frank--the second to last one, and there is another one by evans there as well :
http://www.photonlab.com/history%20of%20photo/gallery.html
your own work often reminds me of robert frank and walker evans, minus the celebrity shots, so far.
July 31st, 2004 at 4:12 pm
I have noticed that, too. I actually created a category called "verbiage" for when my photos talk to me.
http://www.ephemera.org/archives/verbiage/
July 31st, 2004 at 7:14 pm
Your waitress - that Strand photo is one of my favorites of his. I don't think without the sign underneath her, would explain her glazed look of poverty.
I have a story about all my photos. My photos contains signs if it supports the photo. i.e http://www.macaby.com/archive.php?id=53&source=single&table=b_photolog
But if you ask me about a photo, it congers up memories and why I took it in the first place.
August 1st, 2004 at 2:03 am
mona~~i agree completely. that picture still gets to me and i first remember seeing it about 20 years ago. it is one of the first images that inspired me to try to capture my own world although i am not as brave as strand and rarely shoot people.
i love that image of yours too! great find.
it is my belief as well that words and photos go naturally together. i always "talk" under my photos, and prefer to keep photo and blog together so to speak.
August 1st, 2004 at 11:40 am
thanks all, those are good links. i too have long admired that paul strand shot. mona, that's one creepy sign.
your_waitress, don't think that just because you compared me to walker evans that means you get pie ;P
i really like text in photos, where not distracting. sometimes i find it confusing though. for example, here is a photo i took where i can't decide if the text adds or detracts: http://www.thenarrative.net/archive/000207.html
on the other note, it's rare that i write descriptive commentary about my photos. i'm not sure why.. laziness? or maybe because i've so often heard "a good picture should stand alone and tell its own story..." is that a cliché? i know that for whatever reason i rarely read the commentary that others leave with their photos. your_waitress, i enjoy the quotes and snippets you include because they seem to complement the images rather than attempt to describe or explain them.
August 1st, 2004 at 12:49 pm
yeah, whatever. i know that pie was burnt. stick to the photographs and leave the baking to the professionals. ;P
thanks for the compliment about my musings, er snippets, i'm glad somebody reads them..
August 1st, 2004 at 6:01 pm
Matto - the sign in the 000207.html photo does destract from the three subjects. They are neither skating or renting. It would be different if the sign was off beat, i.e. adult XXX, that would serve contrast.
btw, the No adults without childre signs are found every where in playgrounds all over San Francisco.
Your Waitress, your photo of Al Gore kicks a@@.
August 1st, 2004 at 6:49 pm
I don't have much words in my photos. Reason is simple because I avoid that. I could think of many photos which have interesting signs or stuff in it, but the problem is, they would be most likey in german, for I live in germany. But many of my visitors are international and since I do my photolog bi-lingual, I try to avoid words, as long as they are not english (most german speakers understand english, but not vice versa).
August 1st, 2004 at 7:20 pm
wow! thanks mona, no one has ever said that about one of my shots before. hehe.
oliver, i would like to see signs in other languages. you could just put a small translation in english if you wanted. many of the sites i like aren't in english which is perfectly fine since babelfish does a half decent job of translating them for me. i'm sure some of my international visitors don't "get" everything i write or post, but they get a general idea since photographs have their own unique language.
April 14th, 2007 at 6:46 am
I try to avoid words, as long as they are not english (most german speakers understand english, but not vice versa
April 14th, 2007 at 6:47 am
i’m sure some of my international visitors don’t “get” everything i write or post, but they get a general idea