Tell a story

[calliope]

I like text. I think it is harder to do well and shows a higher level of skill than just putting up pics.

Agreed.

It's a bit off topic, but I've wondered if there could be the occasional shoot, possibly as a deviation, with a narrative in text, profusely illustrated by AW photography.

[Vaxalon]

One technique I have seen on occasion, is to take an existing photoscene, and write text to go with it.

In fact, the tools (lists) already exist to do this!

[arsby]

Text accompanying a shoot reminds me of the poorly written text that accompanied the shoots in the old issues of Hustler and Private that I used to read years ago. Unless AW.com wants to go to the bother of hiring a writer and editor, I don't think this is a good idea. The photography should (and does!) speak for itself.

[matchless]

Arsby makes a great point: I like some magazines for the pictures but then when I read the text I feel like I've just contributed to this decay of society's morality I keep reading about

There was one photo shoot I recall that had a story behind it, Faith's Redux. The shoot generated a bit of discussion on the boards with people either appreciating the differences in this shoot or not liking it because Faith looked so serious and uncomfortable. Then Abby explained that there was a story behind the photos, that the set was edited so as to leave out the pictures where she was smiling, and that she thought it looked sexy. Her explanation and opinion still didn't change the minds of some people who found the mood of the set off-putting, but exceptional one set like this out of hundreds is nothing to complain about

So if you're looking for a story in any of the sets, I think you're gonna have to rely on your own imagination or study the profiles and discussion boards for clues I was a little slow to catch on the what was happening in Faith's redux set, but arsby is right -- the pictures do speak for themselves.

[calliope]

Text accompanying a shoot reminds me of the poorly written text that accompanied the shoots in the old issues of Hustler and Private that I used to read years ago.

That's a reason for better text then.

Unless AW.com wants to go to the bother of hiring a writer and editor, I don't think this is a good idea.

That would be one way, but it wasn't what I was meaning.

The photography should (and does!) speak for itself.

Indeed, but the idea of mixing diverse forms of expression, music, dance, oral, written, visual etc, in order to reinforce and spark off each other, is well established.

In terms of "Tell a story", which is how the ever perceptive Vid Dude framed the thread title, that could encompass a whole spectrum in regard to the amount of text, so long as there is some sense of story. At one end of the spectrum it could be like "Seeing a world in grain of sand", with the story encapsulated in a few words; at the other it could be more of a sand dune.

For instance, by way of example, when I saw the first part of Sybil's set, I couldn't help thinking of the quoted lines from Mr Tambourine Man, and inserting a couple of image links. In doing that, I was doing what Vaxalon is saying, ie reacting to the images, but what I'm suggesting is turning that round the other way, to provide something for the photographer to react to and interpret, and by expanding on it with image sequences linked to the text.

In other words, using the narrative, or elements thereof, in an existing song, poem, short story or whatever, as a source of inspiration, but obviously it needs to be something that can be interpreted within the AW paradigm.

[arsby]

...
In other words, using the narrative, or elements thereof, in an existing song, poem, short story or whatever, as a source of inspiration, but obviously it needs to be something that can be interpreted within the AW paradigm.

I don't really think that addition of text can be "interpreted within the AW paradigm", because that paradigm has always been that the images stand on their own, without outside interpretation.
The addition of text would move away from "natural girls be presented naturally" to "natural girls presented in someone else's context".

Example:
Take a 20-shot spread sequence from any of the explicit shoots.
1) Add to it a poem about the blooming of a flower OR
2) Add to it text about the essence of femininity OR
3) Add to it text about desire and preparation for the sexual act OR
4) Do not add any text at all.

It's the same 20 images in any of the four cases, however in the first three the viewer is being guided by the text which may change his perception of the images. If so, I think they're detracting from the images rather than enhancing them, because there's the implication that the images can't stand on their own.

[calliope]

I don't really think that addition of text can be "interpreted within the AW paradigm", because that paradigm has always been that the images stand on their own, without outside interpretation.

Whenever AW has asked for ideas for shoots, it's always been stated that stuff like fantasy themes falls outside the AW paradigm, and that's what I was meaning here, but the rendering of an interpretation of a suitable text would obviously be the photographer's, and not an "outside interpretation".

The addition of text would move away from "natural girls be presented naturally" to "natural girls presented in someone else's context".

Same comment again there, that it's the photographer's interpretation, which isn't the same as the photographer trying to recreate someone's text in image form.

Example:
Take a 20-shot spread sequence from any of the explicit shoots.
1) Add to it a poem about the blooming of a flower OR
2) Add to it text about the essence of femininity OR
3) Add to it text about desire and preparation for the sexual act OR
4) Do not add any text at all.

It's the same 20 images in any of the four cases, however in the first three the viewer is being guided by the text which may change his perception of the images. If so, I think they're detracting from the images rather than enhancing them,

In that example you're returning to the idea of adding text after the images have been produced, rather than using a text narrative as an inspiration for a shoot.

If the first three interpretations could all be applied to the image sequence, then they would be interpretations, or facets of an underlying reality, but the idea is that the photography would hopefully speak to that underlying reality, and not simply copy one of the expressions of it.

If you go back to Mr Tambourine Man, you could say that Dylan's lyric may be about someone experiencing a sublime sense of the past and the future being absorbed into the present moment through the joy of movement, and of being totally at one with the world. The job of the photographer isn't to slavishly recreate the imagery that's been invoked, but to try to convey the underlying sense via a different medium, whilst at the same time being free to use the ideas in the text.

....because there's the implication that the images can't stand on their own.

That seems to be a bit like saying that a film shouldn't have a musical sound-track, because it implies that the cinematography won't stand up by itself, or am I misunderstanding.?

[arsby]

If you go back to Mr Tambourine Man, you could say that Dylan's lyric may be about someone experiencing a sublime sense of the past and the future being absorbed into the present moment through the joy of movement, and of being totally at one with the world.

When someone asked Dylan about the meaning of one of his songs, he asked, "what's the meaning of a bird."

That seems to be a bit like saying that a film shouldn't have a musical sound-track, because it implies that the cinematography won't stand up by itself, or am I misunderstanding.?

I'm beginning to see your point. Just like the soundtrack/acting/cinematography make a rich artistic experience that is greater than the individual components, so text/theme/images can make a rich artistic experience.

I think my problem in grasping this has more to do with my own preferences. I see images of a lovely naked girl, any associated text is completely lost to me. People who are more artistically inclined would like it a lot better.