More than the photo.

craig · Mar 24, 2005

Blame oriecat's photographer/place thread for this one. I got to thinking about the incomparable Alexi Brodovich and Irving Penn. Their page design and photography filled the pages of the (still) great Vogue, Vanity Fair, etc. In New York City during the 1940's.

Spill your involvement and or thoughts of text in and around photos.

Personally I have very little say in layout. One of my photos was cropped once... I almost killed the AD. I also believe that the kids today have no respect of page design.

Hertz van Rental · Mar 25, 2005

craig said:
One of my photos was cropped once... I almost killed the AD. I also believe that the kids today have no respect of page design.

ONCE!?!?!? Every bloody time.
Sometimes it was hard to recognise it as one you'd taken.
I used to always ask for a credit 'so I know it's me'.
As for kids to-day - I don't think half of them can even spell 'page design'.

ferny · Mar 25, 2005

This isn't off topic so I'm going to move it. I'm not sure where to though. General Photography and Camera Q&A or Photographer Discussion? I'll move it to General Photography and Camera Q&A because you're asking for peoples experiences rather than discussing famous photographers.

craig · Mar 25, 2005

Thanks for the move. I was not clear on where to put it myself.

At the paper and magazine I am at the photographers work closely with layout. This has proven volatile at times. Generally photographers only delay the process of getting said pages down to production. At this moment in time the AD is familiar with our work, so a basic trust is in place. I am proud to say that I am still the only one cropping my photos.

I filled in as AD for one issue of the paper. Production and the editor was ready to kill me. I am just too slow at flowing text. There is a real art to it. An art that few people recognize. Hence my interest in this thread.

danalec99 · Mar 27, 2005

craig said:
One of my photos was cropped once...

Doesn't the photographer have a say in this? I have read somewhere that HCB used to insist that his photographs should not be cropped! Is that old news??

craig · Mar 28, 2005

Bresson also printed with a cut out negative carrier to prove that his photos were cropped in the camera. Masters may not be a good example. I am guessing that they worked closely in the design of the pages where their photos appeared.

Generally; Insisting that your photo not be cropped is tough. Publication pages greatly vary. If your photo was chosen for the front page of the local paper you may be out of luck. Depending on that day (or week) news you are at the mercy of the editor. The photo may be cropped to death to fit headlines and text. Nothing against the photo; the editor needs to get people to pick up the paper. Page one is also a little more difficult because of flags and sky boxes. Feature stories such as the "Jr Miss" competition or whatever have more flexibility. The photos are generally the lede and text can be accommodated to fit.

Also keep in mind that editorial holes are very specific in size. Also keep in mind that it is easier to crop the photo than it is to crop text. An inexperienced AD will crop the photo with no regard to anything except for getting the page approved by the editor.