The Online Photographer had an article or two about captions under pictures. The subject is still rattling around in my mind – it’s something I haven’t quite come to terms with. On the one hand, some images really stand out on their own. On the other, sometimes images are just lost without text.
Take this image, for example (screenshot with surrounding text):
Screenshot of Pictory blog
This came from one of Pictory’s recent blog posts (here, specifically). On its own, the image doesn’t mean much to me. An older lady spending some time with a hobby, perhaps. Some focused light and nice, deep shadows. But with the text, it turns into a human story, and gives a new meaning: in this case, it screams of loneliness and abandonment.
It’s quite a sad image. Yet there is an uplifting message, that you make your own happiness.
This would be lost without the text.
In your situation, would you have done anything different?
