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|| SportsShooter.com: News Item: Posted 2007-05-20
Gray Matters: The Five W's
Jim Merithew says we lose more credibility every day because of inaccurate, ill-conceived, poorly executed and/or nonexistent captions.
By Jim Merithew, San Francisco Chronicle
Photo by Jim Merithew / San Francisco Chronicle
Bones, of Phoenix, AZ, gets a massage from a wheel covered in paintbrushes at Burning Man in Black Rock City, Nevada. The wheel is not unlike a smaller version of the Wheel of Fortune and is available for anybody to use. This is a pretty good caption!
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Why is that we have such a hard time with cutline writing? Were we busily poring over the latest issue of Clone Your Way to the Top magazine (thanks Joe Cavaretta) during English class? Maybe we figured we would be famous right out of the blocks and someone else would write our copy. Or maybe we figured our pictures were worth a thousand words, none of which we were going to have to write.
Well, I'm here to tell you that we lose more credibility every day because of inaccurate, ill-conceived, poorly executed and/or nonexistent captions than most of you are aware.
If you are not getting complete and accurate caption information, then now is the time to start. If you struggle with accuracy or suffer from lack of knowledge when it comes to gathering or writing informative captions, then now is the time to seek help. There are plenty of people in the world who can help you. Find one. If your captions are complete and accurate not only will they be better received today, they will add value to your photographs as time goes on.
Why are we discussing caption writing in an ethics column? Well, I was interested in discussing whether you could use caption writing as a tool to explain photographs from questionable situations.
Nhat Meyer from the San Jose Mercury News gets us started. "Sometimes you get to an assignment and it's obvious that something is being done specifically for the paper, a "demonstration." For example a couple of years ago (luckily it doesn't happen to me too often) I had to photograph a San Jose Police officer using a computer based training. For some reason they wouldn't allow us to photograph an actual officer in training - I think because they were undercover or something, so in the caption I stated: San Jose Police department officer so-and-so demonstrates (specifically for the Mercury News) a computer based training system... Using the words "demonstrates for the Mercury News" emphasizes the point that this was not a "real" situation,” said Meyer.
Nhat is lucky because he does not end up in these situations often.
"I work to avoid demonstration situations at the photo request level," said Ian Malkasian, assignment editor for The Oregonian.
"At our shop the guiding principle is full disclosure in the caption ... particularly if the context of the situation is important to understanding the photo," added Ian.
"Captions give photos context, and they are extremely helpful in drawing out the impact of a photo. But do not rely on captions to the point of them being a crutch. You can explain a photo until you're blue in the face. But if the photo isn't there, then it just isn't. The goal is to shoot a photo that can stand on its own without words," said San Francisco-based freelancer John Lee.
"Pictures are very powerful, and worth at least a thousand words, when they are great. But a questionable photograph raises more questions than it answers. If you have to explain an image it's often because the image isn't good enough. No one had to explain Iwo Jima or the Vietcong execution, let alone Robert F. Kennedy in the kitchen of the Ambassador hotel. The picture told the story," said Tim Rasmussen, AME Photography for The Denver Post.
"It is important to remind photographers that they are journalists first and photographers second. We must strive to be every bit a reporter as the scribes; it's just that we use different tools. I also believe that good caption writing can start before you go to an assignment (if you have time, of course). Researching subjects and situations in advance (even if it is reading a clip) certainly improves our understanding of what it is we are shooting. Not only will we make more intelligent, informed photographs, but we'll write more intelligent and informed captions," said Dave Pierini of The Herald in Jasper, IN.
I want to stress that the key to not having to explain yourself in a caption is the use of solid journalism skills. If you don't have an assignment editor, photo editor, chief photographer, director of photography, visual editor or your mother calling ahead to make sure you are not wandering into an unethical situation then you should be doing it yourself. In too many newsroom the management does not want to hear excuses or see portraits, they just want results. I have heard from many of you about the frustrations of trying to live an ethical professional life, only to be pressured into photographing less than real situations. I advocate that you make every effort to minimize these situations. And if you have done everything possible to avoid making "demonstration" photographs then you should at least make it clear in the caption what the situation actually entailed, leaving the onus on those in charge.
"I think the key is to be honest," said Meyer.
The views expressed in this column are those of the author and the author alone. They do not represent the views of his employer, co-workers, friends or family.
(Jim Merithew is a picture editor at the San Francisco Chronicle. Jim invites you to direct your questions and comments about this column and other issues involving photojournalism ethics to him through his member page: http://www.sportsshooter.com/merithew.)
Related Links:
Merithew's member page
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