Vague but Specific

I stole the title of this post from a Facebook friend who periodically posts humorous quotes she hears during her day. I smiled initially, but then, as I thought about it a bit, I realized in photography at least, you can be both. In fact I think some of the best images out there have vital elements to the photograph that aren’t actually visible, but implied.

For example there is Alfred Eisenstaedt’s classic image of the V-J Day kiss on Times Square. What is present in the image is not what is important, but the emotions that it holds: celebration, relief, love. Photography has great potential to portray these implied values. And it is these elements, hidden from the frame, and perhaps impossible to photograph, that make an image successful.

The image above of the fog bank over the hillside can be read a couple of ways. Is it rolling in, threatening? Or retreating in the face of the growing sun, providing a sense of relief? The reality doesn’t matter so much as to how it resonates with the viewer. The important thing is that there is something implied, a change occuring, a story is playing out.

Think about your images as you make them, is a story being told, is there something implied in the image, and if so, how do you emphasize that? In other words, be vague, but specific.

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