Making use of text

For my next assignment I've started to look at how I can use text either in or alongside my images. This is something my tutor mentioned from assignment 4 where I did use text in my images albeit not deliberately. After thinking more about how text could compliment my work I've decided to look at how it can enhance my next set of images.

Photographers tend to use text a lot in their images from shop names to street names and product names to fashion labels. However there are some photographers that have made a very deliberate us of text in their work like Duane Michals for example. Michals uses text in the image itself but also as asides that fill in some of the blanks or provide additional clues for the viewer. I like some of his work. It provides the viewer with a very different viewing experience where they use two forms of communication to decipher the meaning of an image. 

I find it interesting to think of the uses text can have from the photographers perspective. You can guide the viewer with use of text or tease them with giving them additional information about the meaning of your image with words. Often the viewer is looking for an explanation for why you shot what you did or simply what is going on in your work. This can lead them into a false sense of security with text. I think we tend to perceive text as being more informative than the visual but as a photographer or artist you can decide how much you want the viewer to know and how you believe they should receive this information. 

Ever since I went to a talk by David Goldblatt last year I've been thinking about text and I like the way he used it alongside his images to tell you more about the person in the shot and their situation. This is especially true of a place that you are not familiar with like his South Africa and the political situation of the past (and present).  I felt after viewing his images more informed about what I had seen, and I felt it was more of a learning experience. 

I'm not particularly a fan of Barbara Kruger's use of text in images. I find it a bit garish and pop art which is not my thing. I do however like some of the concepts introduced in Hamish Fulton's work. Fulton uses text in a very informative but visually pleasing manner. I also like the way in which he constructs his images. 

I think looking at their work has given me some food for thought and I will have to consider more how I will use text alongside my images. I feel that with the images I have already created for this assignment they can only be enhanced by the use of words to tell more of the story. It is a big story.