The Spoken Image: Photography and Language

Considering the nature of photography, this book examines the language used in titles, captions and commentaries, particularly as they relate to documentary photography, photojournalism and fashion photography. It addresses the question of how the photograph communicates its message, with or without the age of language, and discusses single and compound photographs, such as David Hockney’s, to show differences in the way in which they convey ideas. The author looks at the work of film-makers such as Antonioni and Greenaway to contrast filmic methods of narration with those of photography. The magazine photo-story and the photo-essay receive attention, as well as the postmodern photo-sequence as employed by Victor Burgin and other artists. Scott’s conclusion is that photography has arrived at a level of communicative sophistication equal to, and often in conjunction with, that of modern textual narratives.