What's in the title — Personal view

What’s in a Title – a Personal View

By Paul Whitham LPSNZ

One of the many skills you have to learn when submitting images for exhibitions or assessments is how to title your image. Unless you are entering images in natural history/wildlife sections, you are pretty much free to title them any way you like.

Prior to the 18th century, most artworks were not titled because a work was commissioned and was a “oneoff”. Therefore, neither the artist nor the buyer needed a title. But as art began to be traded and reproduction methods improved, there was a need to identify individual images, so artists started to title their works.

In viewing an image, there is almost a chicken/egg debate as to whether to look at the title and then the work or the other way around. Complicating it further, some assessors ignore titles altogether. This is generally because they either believe the image should stand on its own, or they don’t want the title affecting their perception of the image.

That is not to say that the title the artist gives a work sticks.

James McNeill Whistler named his most famous painting Arrangement in Grey and Black, No. 1: Portrait of the Painter’s Mother, because he wished to direct the viewer’s eyes first to the abstract pattern of its tones and only secondly – if at all – to the picture’s subject.

‘To me, it is interesting as a picture of my mother,’ he conceded, ‘but what can or ought the public to care about the identity of the portrait?’

Viewers did care about the portrait, however, not only because everyone responds to the emotional effects of the human figure, but because it is far easier to recall such a picture by what it represents than by a titular abstraction – especially when there happens to be more than one Arrangement in Grey and Black by the same artist. This painting has become widely known, of course, as Whistler’s Mother.

To me, the title is much more than a way to catalogue an image. If it were solely for that purpose, we could simply use numbers. It is part of how the artist passes on some of their thought processes. For that reason, I generally look at the title before I look at the image.

Titling your work can be a very personal experience, so I will not suggest ways of coming up with titles. However, from my experience in assessing images, there are four areas that I strongly recommend you think about.

Titles that contradict the image

This is where the title does not appear to match what we see in the image. Sometimes this is a deliberate act by the artist as they wish to provoke a reaction. In such cases, it is generally obvious that this is happening.

What I am referring to happens when the title contains words implying you are likely to see something in the image. For example, in a recent assessment, an image used the term “zooming” in the title, but everything in the image was totally sharp. There was no motion evident in the image, which I would have expected. Unless you have some motion, a photo of a car on a racetrack shot at 1/8000sec will look exactly the same as one of a parked car.

Titles that have no relevance to the image

Except for abstract/ICM images, if you are using the title to assist the assessor in determining what you were trying to achieve with the image, then try to make it relevant to what they are seeing.

Otherwise, we can often question how the title fits the image, potentially influencing the final mark an image receives. For example, you can use the name of a location for a clear landscape image because that provides context; however, a location is not all that relevant when, for instance, used with a close-up portrait.

Titles that express your sense of humour

Often, when my wife and I watch a comedy, and I am roaring with laughter, she asks, ‘Is that funny?’ That is because we each have a different sense of humour, which can extend to how we express ourselves. We may see something of humour while someone else will not.

In a recent assessment, there was a very good image of a bee and butterfly on two flowers. The photographer had titled it with the first names of the presidents of Russia and Ukraine. It took me a long time to match the title to the image, and even then, it was a very tenuous link. We do see bees and butterflies as competitors with each other for territory. Also, unless you have a veggie garden, we generally have a positive attitude toward butterflies and bees. Had the bee been a wasp, we might have had a link, as wasps are considered invaders.

That is not to say that you can’t be clever in your titles, especially in using puns or double meanings.

Titles that require prior knowledge to make sense

Sometimes, an image we create will be inspired by or reference something we associate with other literature. They might simply trigger a memory for the photographer. In these circumstances, it is often tempting to use that memory to title the image.

The issue with doing that is that if the viewer is not familiar with the background material, then the title will make no sense. For example, not everyone in New Zealand saw Peter Jackson’s Lord of the Rings; hence referring to Mount Ngauruhoe as Mount Doom will not resonate with everyone.

Generally speaking, it is not a good choice if you have to know the background to a subject before it is relevant to what you are now seeing.

Seddon Shield Convention

Nelson, 26-28 August 2022

Here's an invitation to all top of the south and West Coast PSNZ affiliated camera clubs and their members to attend the annual Seddon Shield Convention hosted by the Nelson Camera Club this year.

This small convention is supported by Nelson, Marlborough, Motueka, Buller and Golden Bay Camera Clubs and Greymouth Photography Club members. It’s a chance to meet new friends, learn new photography skills, enter the Seddon Shield salons and join some early morning outings, including a trip to the Boulder Bank lighthouse.

Submission of entries for the salons opens on 15 June and closes on 12 July.

The convention will be held at the Cricket Pavilion, Saxton Sports Field at Stoke, with registrations at 5.00 pm on Friday 26 August. Farewells and last laughs at midday on Sunday.

For more information on the salons and registration, please visit https://seddonshield.weebly.com/

Fishermans Wharf at Night

Welcome to Our New PSNZ Members!

Maryjane Hillier Nicola Guy James Elam Samantha Cornish Ken Leung Alan Ofsoski Manojchandra Mishra James Glucksman Jen Stockwell John Perrin Donna Russell Ari Subramanian Dawn Dutton Jenny Fugle-Davis Debbie Gartshore Warren Mayall Jarrod Harris Simon Velk Rachel Spillane Jenny Whitcombe Lee-Stuart Boddington Jim Kelleher Bronwyn Kelly Mike Wilson Emma Hissey Robin Bush Sean Garelli

Nelson National Triptych Salon 2022

Hosted by the Nelson Camera Club

Entries open on 1 August and close on 31 August.

A presentation of three images telling a story or complementing each other in some way creates a greater visual impact than that achieved with a single image.

The three special awards this year are:

The Road ̶ rural or residential, long and winding or straight and narrow, bustling or deserted, real or imagined. Roads come in all kinds, shapes, and sizes. Impress the salon selectors with your version of The Road.

Cool Cats ̶ feline and furry or funky and fashionable, cuddly, and comforting or cold-blooded killing machines. What's your concept of Cool Cats?

Monochrome ̶ with just one or no colour. Your entry must be very strong in other aspects to capture and hold the viewer’s attention.

Stretch your imagination, and have a go!

Please visit https://www.nelsoncameraclub.co.nz/introducing-triptych.html and read the rules and other information before creating your triptych entries.