Eight ways to set words to pictures - John Fry on editing

Eight ways t set words to pictures

JOHN FRY ON EDITING

The old saying is that a picture is worth a thousand words has never quite been true. Actually, a picture is worth 980 or 935 words -- the net of its often proclaimed value less the number of words in the accompanying caption. In short, not only should a picture have a caption, but there are also powerful bottom-line reasons for magazines to use captions almost all the time. And someone has to write them .

Great caption writers have an inborn feel for linking words and images, but caption writing is a discipline that can, and should, be learned by every editor. It's also an important editorial function. Along with an article's head and deck, the most read part of a magazine are captions accompanying photos and art. How skillfully they're written has a powerful bearing on whether readers will be pulled into reading the body text.

Distressing contrast

I recently took a close look at captions in a dozen consumer magazines and in twice as many business and professional magazines. I'm a believer in the value of business magazines and in the challenge of editing them, but the contrast between the business magazines and consumer magazines was distressing. Most consumer magazines fully exploit the power of the caption. Business publications mostly ignore or fail to employ the range of captioning techniques that ought to be in any editor's repertory.

To spare embarassment to the people involved, I'll omit the names of the business magazines about which the following observations are made. One, a Jesse Neal award winner, occasionally forgets to caption pictures or carries three-word identifications of products. A caption in another reads, "Figure One, (left); Figure Two." (Sic the punctuation.) In another trade book, "Buyer Mike McFann, standing, goes over the books with accounts executive Tony Scarpitti." And the beginning of the following caption I'd not seen since editing my high-school yearbook, but it appeared repeatedly in the biggest monthly in its field: "Pictured at..."

Choosing caption formats

As any movie or television script writer knows, a picture already contains a great deal of information. Therefore, a primary rule of caption writing is to avoid describing that which is self-evident.

To use a simplistic example: A picture of the sun setting behind a building a great deal of information. Therefore, a primary rule of caption writing is to avoid describing that which is self-evident.

To use a simplistic example: A picture of the sun setting behind a building with a sign on the fascade stating "Faithful Bank Head Office" does not need a caption identifying the building or the time of day. The caption writer can start by exploring other ideas.

There are at least eight caption styles used by most editors today. Sometimes, one style becomes the identifying mark of a magazine, to the exclusion of all others. But more often, a single magazine will explore most if not all these techniques.

1. Identifying captions: These are the classic, traditional captions that identify the people or objects in the picture. Unfortunately, many editors literally do just that -- with flat results.

For examples of masterful identifier captioning, see Frank Zachary's Town & Country. You'll also observe the correct use of ragged lines in caption setting, both centered and flush left and right.

Incidentally, caption writers should be able to proceed on the assumption that the reader understands that heads across a photo are conventionally identified left to right. Therefore, unless the arrangement of the group is otherwise, the caption writer need nto use the words, "left to right."

2. Informational captions: These often expand on the identifier caption, offering interesting facts about the people, buildings and objects in the picture. The information may be drawn from the body text, but I like captions that also expand on the subject matter of the article.

Examples of excellent informational captioning can be found in Life and in European Travel & Life magazines.

Town & Country and former Life photographer Slim Aarons requires his editorial aide on a shoot to make notes not only of the who and where of photos, but also the what, why, how and when. "That way," says Aarons, "the information is available to write any kind of caption of any length."

3. Teaser captions: These exploit the well-known magazine reading measurement mentioned earlier -- namely, that captions rank high or highest among all text read. Therefore, why not use them to tease people into exploring the less-well-read body text? Ski is a special interest magazine that does this well.

The teaser caption takes the picture as the departure point to include an intriguing fact or opinion drawn from the article. "Remarkable," says the reader. "I must read the article!" Or so the editor hopes.

National Geographic, on the other hand, does such a complete informational job with its captioning that many readers, seemingly, are happy to pore over the magazine's pictures and captions, without ever reading the articles.

4. Pull-quote captions: These are similar to teaser captions, but are used primarily on head shots or pictures with a single person dominant in them. Rather than merely supplying the person's name (a pure identifier caption), the editor searches in the body text for an illuminating or controversial quote from the person.

Usually, it's more effective to have the quote precede the person's name. In any case, using the quote in the caption, again, will attempt readers to search the article for the full context.

5. Questioning captions: These draw on something in the photo to trigger the reader's curiosity. "What is that damned goat doing in the picture?" What it's doing is giving the writer an opportunity to create a caption with a question that will drive the reader to find the answer in the body text.

Questioning captions not only add interest to pictures, they are first-rate teasers.

6. Mood-evoking captions: These often pick up a cloud information, shadows and lighting or facial expression in a picture and translate it into words. As a result, the editor may accomplish several ends. The caption may serve to remind the reader of the quality of the photography or art in the magazine. The evocation of mood may be tied to emotions expressed in the accompanying article. It may even serve as editorializing -- suggesting a way the reader should view or judge a subject.

7. Headline, blurb: When a large photo or illustration is on the opening spread, is is often unnecessary to have a caption -- but only if the headline and/or deck is written in such a way that the picture is clearly understood.

It's absolutely remarkable how often this does not happen in magazines. The photo or illustration relates to an important element in the article, but the editor chooses another angle in the story to which he keys the head and deck. The result is confusion at the outset of the story.

Think of head and deck typographic elements as captions tied to the opening graphics of the article. If you can't tie them to the graphics, then be sure to supply a caption.

8. Sidebars, short text items: These frequently do not require captioning, particularly when the layout surrounds or ties the photo/art closely to the text. For a powerful variation on editing, rather than add the picture to the sidebar, think of the sidebar as a caption for the picture. The simplest form of this kind of writing is the "New products" column of every magazine.

Obviously, there are other factors that enter into the art of caption writing, including the number of words allowed by the art director in the page design. Manhattan, inc., for instance, imposes extremely tight caption formats on its writers, with widowless, flush left and right single lines. Popular Photography provides a format in which captions can run varying lengths, depending on how much the editors want to say (which is interesting, when you consider its readers).

"Caption space should be flexible," says Peter Miller, a former Life photographer and a freelancer who has edited many photo essays. "Pictures are different; one may call for more or less caption information than another; and art directors should allow for that fact."

Miller says that photographers who fail to bring in pictures supported with adequate information only hurt themselves. He supplies as much information as he can on on his slides at Image Bank because "that's editors and researchers prefer to buy."

What are the best size and fonts for caption typography? Should captions be dropped inside the picture? Are gang captions (a single capiton covering two or more pictures) okay?

These questions must be resolved by editor and art director. I'm girding by lions to address that relationship in a future column.

Writing captions is an art that can be learned: Take your cue from the styles suggested here

John Fry is a magazine consultant based in Katonah, N.Y.

"It's absolutely remarkable how often this does not happen in magazines. The result is confusion at the outset."

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