Titles and Captions
While I mull over the alternative images in my previous post, it is a good time (if there is every such a thing) to dip in the Barthian world and consider how to caption or title this final image.
I am, in general, not a titler/captioner of an image, mainly, as I have touched upon in a previous post, that I have been conditioned this way by reading that we should let our images speak for themselves. However, this does not mean that I do not believe in captions or the power of them. As we have discussed earlier in the course caption add context to an image and in some cases can completely re-contextualise an image. I have in the psst seen poor images score highly in Camera Club competitions, just because they were cleverly captioned to fit with the theme, over visually far stronger images that were simply “untitled”. In fact would the most famous painting in the world the “Mona Lisa” be as fascinating if it was simply an untitled portrait of a woman.
Barthes gives us the idea of Anchor and Relay in titles and captions; Anchoring titles control the meaning of the image whereas Relaying titles have equal status with the image – they work together to create ambiguity and different interpretations.
In this project, I am trying to capture a point in my life and the influences that have lead to this point and with that in mind do I want to anchor the viewer to my ideas alone or do I want then to try and interpret it further and relate it to themselves? A little of both – there is ambiguity in the image so i need the viewer to stay on my track but I need them to relate it.
Ideas for a title…
- The baggage I carry
- How did I get here?
- Who influences me
- What makes me, me?
These are personal titles, the linguistic meaning should how the viewer that the image is something that comes from within the artist but is too personal would it be better to change the personal pronoun to the 3rd person?
- Capturing the present and past
is this a little too vague?
- My life in HO gauge
I like this there it anchors the viewer but perhaps restricts interpretation, again the personal pronoun (is my a pronoun? but I think you know what I mean) is the restricting factor, a more 3rd person or general article would work better.
- A life in HO gauge