Title to Your Photos?

Dew · Mar 6, 2004

for the past few weeks, i've been pondering whether to title my photos or not :? (well, the interesting ones anyway) .. how do u feel about this? ... is it necessary? ... depends on the circumstances?

what's your take on this?

photogoddess · Mar 6, 2004

I title all of my keepers but haven't been posting the titles on this site. No idea why. :?

LaFoto · Mar 6, 2004

The "photobug" does it with any of the photos he posts here (as far as I can tell, that is), and in his pictures I've always liked it somehow - but you need a short and "gripping" title.

It may occur, too, that I find it "in the way".

Dew · Mar 6, 2004

when i look at photographer's work .. i hate when it says "Untitled 1985" :lol:

buhhhhhh

photobug · Mar 6, 2004

Nah, I never title photos. Kinda tacky. :lol:

vonnagy · Mar 6, 2004

I title all of my keepers but haven't been posting the titles on this site. No idea why.

same here!

Nah, I never title photos. Kinda tacky.

:LOL:

tr0gd0o0r · Mar 6, 2004

i've been thinking about this a lot lately and realized i'd rather just not put a label on my pictures at all. Let people take what they want from the photo yaknow?

oriecat · Mar 6, 2004

I abhor titles. I even hate having to type a title like thing to be the filename. I need to come up with a numbering system...

Not Neve · Mar 7, 2004

I'm not a huge fan of naming my photos. I don't mind when other people do it ~ I think some folks are pretty clever with their naming conventions.

terri · Mar 8, 2004

Sometimes there is a title floating in my mind with the image, whether I want it there or not....it comes unbidden. Not each and every one, though.

I have no problem with titles as a rule. I think calling one "Untitled" is kind of pointless. But if you're exhibiting, you're always asked for a title with your images, so that might be how that silly trend got started. They just want to put something on that card with your name on it beside your piece.

ksmattfish · Mar 8, 2004

I think "untitled" is probably the result of the person at the gallery labeling the image, rather than the photographer actually titling it "untitled". It's like there is a blank line that must be filled out; rather than an absense of a title, the gallery needs to let us know that the photograph is "untitled".

I was going to say that I don't give my photos titles, but then I realized that I do usually write something when I post. I guess I think of it more like a caption: "Maisy at the slide", "Black Rock", "Wetlands Grass". A lot of my landscapes have the same title. I'm putting together a landscape portfolio right now, and all dozen or so photos have the same title: Douglas County, KS.

Titling my work isn't real important to me. Dramatic or philosophical titles is definately not my thing. But each image needs some sort of identity so I can keep track of it in files, darkroom notes, conversation....