I’ll admit that despite the fact I
have a reasonably strong background in writing (I’ve written quite a few papers
for classes, articles for the web, explanations on forums, rants and arguments,
and even a few grant applications), I find the task of writing a caption for a
photo somewhat daunting.
Five W’s and an H. Who, what, where, when, why and how. Photojournalists
must answer these questions when writing captions. This is a challenge for me, almost
everything I have ever written I’ve had lots of space available to me in to
answer these questions, less limited area to spread out and find my own path to
the answers. Photojournalists don’t have that luxury. A photo caption is a
scant few lines in which to lay the foundation and set the context to properly
tell the story recorded in your image. A picture might well be worth a
thousand words but if your viewer has no sense of the context, you don’t get to
chose those words. Without a clear concise well written caption, the
photographer is less able to effectively convey the story intended in their
image.
Our textbook, Photojournalism: The Professionals'
Approach, tells us that Associated Press caption writing follows a simple
formula.
“The first sentence describes what the photo shows, in the present
tense, and states where and when the photo was made. It must ALWAYS include the
day and date the photo was made….
The second sentence gives back-ground on the news
event or describes why the photo is significant.”
These two sentences change how
the reader views your picture. It sounds simple but writing accurate concise
sentences that place your image in context is every bit as important as knowing
how to use your camera. It’s half the story, half the meaning of your image.
