How Important is a Caption?
In talking about the important of a caption for photograph, my friend Dick Zakia, author of Perception and Imaging, sent me this short story:
Blind man with no legs is sitting in a park begging.
Sign beside him reads, "Have Compassion. I am blind." People walk by and pretty much ignore the man, sign and hat for the coins.
A well-dressed businessman walks past him then turns around, stands in front of the man. He picks up the sign, writes something on the back and places the sign back where it was but with what he wrote showing.
People continue to walk by but now are dropping coins and bills into the hat. The blind man is thrilled and collects the coin.
The businessman returns and the blind man inquires as to what he wrote on the sign. The businessman replies, "Today is a beautiful day and I cannot see it."
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Dick, a former RIT professor, adds: "I always reminded my students that a caption is
part of the photograph, part of the gestalt--just as the choice of mat and
frame, and the size of the print and the surface of the paper, etc."
Comments? Post here!
And, if you have a caption for my photograph of a man I photographed in Hong Kong, which is one of my favorites in my new book, Face to Face, send that, too!
Thank you,
Rick
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"One is the loneliest number?"
So impressive!! Both the phrases had same meaning, but they were put differently. The phrase by the business man was a selling one. I would like the caption to be "God is one", since he is an old man and old men are closer to God.
I think the above article is really good on article.In article the story of a older and special man is very interesting i really also enjoy these post.
Magdalena said:
I would say "Exotic touch".
Love the picture and its colours!
amazing what film + photoshop can do :-)
thanks
rick
I would say "Exotic touch".
Love the picture and its colours!
Hi Brian
Thanks for your post. Interesting....and I love your caption idea.
Best
rick
Hi rick
I ran a communication exercise for a group of students, using a set of prizewinning photos from a national competition. All the students had to do was come up with their own captions and then when I revealed the actual ones discuss how different captions changed perceptions of the pictures.
During the exercise I discovered several students peeling the pictures off their mounts to read the original captions which were on the back and discussing 'getting the right answers' in hushed whispers.
Probably says more about me than that handful of teenage bricklayers…
How's about "Sure, I'm your number one fan." for your picture?
Regards
Brian H
funny!
Beautiful picture, Rick. Caption-wise, can I use the line my grandpa used to say to the TV when we were watching cop shows? "Behind you, he's got a gun!"
-Dan
Hi
What a nice surprise to get such a nice comment!
I took the picture in 1976 - I can't exactly say where.
I like your idea about a fairy or angel... I never heard that.
Actually, here is what happened. He was charging $1 for a photo. I took a photo and paid him a dollar. I went to take another picture, and he said with his body language, "One Dollar."
Believe it or not, Face to Face is currently being translated into Chinese. It will be available in March!
Thank you,
Rick
Hi Rick,
I am a local HK Chinese. May I ask where you took the picture of the old man in HK? Was he pointing at anything in particular? He seemed to be quite hot because he had a paper fan, but he wrote long levees.
About the idea of a caption... is it possible to relate him to a fairy or angel who disguises himself as a mortal? I think some folk stories are like that :)
My two cents.
ada