In May 2021 I am having a solo street photo show at my local gallery. I am trying to determine how detailed the image titles and descriptions should be. My frustration is that many people who come to these exhibits do not spend time to study an image. For many visitors it is all about emotion and color rather than a message or a story. If I were a purist, I would not have any titles, but only the price of the image. Let the visitors figure it out for themselves. If I were a traditional gallery exhibitor, I would have a pithy title for each image and hope that the visitors fill in the blanks with their own thoughts. If I were a realist, I would have my pithy title supplemented by my own interpretations of each image, leaving nothing to chance. I favor the last option in an attempt to get visitors to dwell on at least a few images to understand them.
Hi Ed,
Congratulations on your solo exhibition!
Often, if not all the time a curator will look at the tittle and the description of an artwork even before looking at it and if it doesn't reach him he figures it won't reach buyers.
When someone is on the fence looking at the tittle and story it greatly helps their decision. An artwork has to speak to potential buyers, your not selling prints, your selling emotions.
Keep your tittles short and write just a line or two. You took those shots for a reason, talk about why.
Hope this helps,
Mark
Great advice. I plan to return to my title cards to edit them one last time before the show. Brevity will be my objective.
Ed, years ago, I was fortunate to see an exhibit of portraits Brian Lanker shot for a book he did called, "I Dream A World: Portraits of Black Women Who Changed America." The exhibition toured after the book was published, consequently, there was a lot of detail in the descriptions next to each portrait.
The descriptions detailed the life of the subject, what she did, and how it affected/enhanced America. While the photography itself was exquisite, the blurbs for each portrait were what made the show for me. I would have been glad just to see the shots on the wall, but the story behind the shots was so enlightening that I still remember clearly the awe I felt standing in front of each portrait.
Having said that, I agree with Mark, re: the need for brevity in your description. "I Dream A World" was detailed because it needed to be, but the takeaway for me was, give enough detail to allow your viewer to place themselves at the scene with you. Photography is voyeuristic by its nature, try to include others in your voyeurism.
Good on ya! for the exhibition!!
Thank you for the comment. It seems there is a small consensus among the three of us. I also agree about brevity - my current title cards have too much detail and leave nothing to the imagination. They were a good starting point, but I need to revisit and reduce them to only the essential information.
You could always leave a bit at the very bottom on where they can learn more about the particular work. Hopefully driving more eyes to your online portfolio and increase interest.