A Picture Says a Thousand Words, But a Caption...



Pictures can say a thousand words, but its the words that accompany pictures that form the story for them. A story a picture tells can change drastically dependent on how you present the picture. This is never more apparent than in the news media where often a quick title or caption and a picture is all people read of a news article before formulating a story and opinion. But is that wise? Of course not. Because a single picture and caption can take on radically different meanings. For that reason, I decided to have a little fun with that and I picked out a few things to illustrate my point.

The first thing is that headlines matter. A lot of people won't admit it but most of us glance at news headlines before picking out a few articles to actually read and there's probably quite a few people out there that don't even read a single article, but will catch a headline. Heck, that's why CNN has their popular "Headline News". People like to catch just a quick headline that tells us what the picture is about. But experience shows that a headline can tell us very different things about a picture. For instance:

Charlie Sheen Looking Forward to Getting Back on Set

 

So we have an innocent shot of Charlie Sheen apparently ready to jump back into the fray of primetime TV. But we can change what this photo is about very quickly.

Charlie Sheen Addresses Concerns After Emerging From Rehab

 

We didn't change the picture any, but we sure changed what the picture was all about. In a way we changed it an awful lot. That casual look, falling hair, and awkward smile suddenly take on a whole new meaning. But lets try another one:

 

Charlie Sheen Returns from Trip to 3rd World Orphanage

 

Now his awkward smile and falling hair mean something totally different. The guys been working with poor orphans man, give him a break! See what I mean?





Let's try another exercise. Sometimes the same picture can be used and reused even, to bring out different reactions. The current US President has been hailed as many things and how you think of him can change drastically dependent on what tags his photos (because president's have tons of photos). The point is that how you word a caption will illicit a different reaction or feeling that can be controlled by the author, even reusing the same picture. Here we have President Obama:

Memorial Day: America Remembers the Valiant

 Barak Obama listens on with billowing emotions as a US Navy veteran recounts the memories of lost comrades.

That story speaks volumes and instantly makes you proud of your president. It makes you proud of America and glad you have such a compassionate man with his fingers at the helm. GO US! You cry while sobbing (if your the overly emotional type). But how about the next one.

 



Obama: NSA Will Continue to Monitor Public Texts, Social Networking, Emails.

President Obama stares down a protestor that interrupted his speech yesterday as citizens concerned about their right to privacy staged a demonstration outside the White House.

That casts a whole different light onto the image doesn't it. This one makes you want to oppose the president and at your most passionate tell the NSA...what you think about that in of course a very civil and non disgruntled way...anyway, the point is that the reaction solicited varies greatly with the same picture. Try this one now,

President in Los Angeles to Gauge Smog Concerns

President Obama takes a whiff of air at Pershing Square in Los Angeles where citizens have been complaining about unhealthy smog. 

Now that takes on a whole new meaning. But I don't think I've proved this yet. Sometimes it can become much more than just variants in the reaction it draws. The story we tell about the pictured people can vary greatly depending on what we say, and we can change the very identity of the people we are picturing.

Get Him Off Stage!

Businessmen in Rome give a thumbs down and boo at the unsuccessful stage show of guest comedian Carrot Top.

That one makes you almost want to laugh right there. All these suites giving an unfunny comedian the classic roman fist (not a thumbs down historically) to show their disapproval while booing him off stage. It's hard to imagine what boss made them sit through a comedy routine as part of their business event anyways. It makes you feel lighthearted and comical (unless you really like Carrot Top). But the whole identity of these men can change instantly with a different caption.



Time for Action: Reconciliation a Must!

Pastors united in Raleigh to pray against racism on Sunday in the last day of a three day event.

 

This one illicits feelings of hope and faith in humanity, a sense of encouragement in the righteousness of others and instantly these men turn from being boring suits to men of character of spiritual and social-political leadership. They are men of courage and selflessness. That is unless you would rather see the following caption which reversed course yet again:

 



Golden Dawn Infiltrating Greek Police!

Members of the neo-Nazi group are quickly gaining traction in a nation of unrest.

Now you see what I mean. But we can also use captions to change the character and competency of the person we are witnessing much like these images sort of already do. But you will see what I mean. Here we have good old Kansas University basketball coach Bill Self. National Titles mean a lot in your level of competence but most people don't really think of that before judging a story. How we word the caption can change everything.

Giv'n 'em Hell!

Bill Self seen hounding an official after one of several KU turnovers. The Jayhawks managed to stave off North Carolina 74-65 in a tense and downright messy affair.

If you read into this caption you would gather the Jayhawks barely struggled to a sloppy win, most likely due to Bill breathing down the refs neck to make sure they got every call. But if we discuss the exact same picture and the exact same play but change up the wording:

Take it Down!

Bell Self lead the Jayhawks to a confident 74-65 victory over top rated North Carolina. Self seen above discussing a late controversial call in a game where the Jayhawks seemed to overcome several obstacles in their latest challenge to a run at the NCAA title.

 

Oh, man! Poor Bill and the Jayhawks got a bum ref and probably some injuries last night and still won that game. Oh Captain my Captain, Bill Self is the man! Now he's a courageous hero, a leader of vision that overcomes the odds. But we can discuss the same situation an even different way.

Jayhawks defeat Tarheels 74-65

Bill Self and referee John Doe steal the show for a moment to argue as the boys of KU won a well played game against North Carolina's power offense.

 

Now it seems like Bill is a side show to this whole affair. From this caption we presume the talented players duked it out while the coach's and referees did pointless stuff on the sidelines that distracted the players all game. Makes you wonder why Bill Self has a job.

But sometimes you take a different course. Sometimes the caption stays the same while the picture changes and this can also have drastic consequences. Maybe the article is about an event that happened. But depending on what picture of the same person you use a different story of the event is told. For instance:

Summit in Haifa

Israeli President Netanyahu meets with parliament officials to discuss new peace initiative.

 

This one seems to indicate the meeting went really well. The president's plan is well supported and from the looks of it, he probably wasn't going to have much opposition from the start. But let's change the picture real quick and see what different story we can tell.

 

Summit in Haifa

Israeli President Netanyahu meets with parliament officials to discuss new peace initiative.

 

Now that one doesn't seem to indicate it was much of a meeting at all. Rather a lot of the president telling parliament how its going to be done. Perhaps someone got a little rowdy and took him on out of turn and he had him silenced. Heck, you could even take this so far as to indicate he went to the meeting to bring the opposition party under his thumb or to say his peace initiative wasn't much of an initiative after all, since he hardly looks peaceful. Now lets throw another changeup.

 



Summit in Haifa

Israeli President Netanyahu meets with parliament officials to discuss new peace initiative

 

Here we have a thoughtful president intelligently laying out his initiative for the consideration of those he is meeting with. It shows an assertive but also respectful man looking to garner support and reason with his colleagues.

 

We can also use this method to tell you about the subject itself, and most importantly, their intentions. Allow me to show you:

 

Red Dragon Rising!

China set to overtake United States as world power!

 



Here we see a modernizing China. A China that is coming into the new century and getting a firm grasp on modern things like skyscrapers, internet, cell phones, and big business. It's a China that is going to lead the world with industry and economics and may soon just start buying stuff up. But we can change the picture and tell a whole different story.

 



Red Dragon Rising!

China set to overtake United States as world power!

 

This one comes across as a lot more menacing. Here we have the armed soldiers of the People's Republic marching into the future of a strong-handed Chinese regime. This China is about to exert its military strength and the United States is its next target! Seriously that guy in front is marching right at me. What am I supposed to think?

Red Dragon Rising!

China set to overtake United States as world power!

 

Now that sends a whole different picture. I mean look at that friendly looking girl. This picture says, "China is happy to take the honor of leading the next century as the world super power. It's going to be a lot of fun and everyone is going to benefit from amicable Chinese culture." This picture says to me that China's culture is so rich and beautiful that it should take over the world. Welcome China, have our movies and universities! We eagerly anticipate the rise of your glorious civilization!
But we are not quite done. For the last bit I will show you just how drastically a picture can affect your perception of a story. In one instance a picture can grab you and tell you this article is serious or worth reading and in another...take a look:



George W. Bush: Commander-in-Chief!

 

This photo tells us about George Bush the fearless leader. The hands on nitty gritty commander behind America's power structure and military worldwide. This is a man that is serious and not to be taken lightly. A man in control and on a mission giving inspiration to his men and women in uniform. But changing the picture...

 



George W. Bush: Commander-in-Chief!

 

This one should speak for itself with no explanation required. We might as well put a question mark on the end of this headline with him as he apparently tries to do the same. I suppose depending on who you are you may think this article is a funny dis on the president and want to read it. Regardless your whole scope of how serious to take the headline is affected by the picture.

 

So, the moral of this story is quite simple. Laugh at the twisted truth...I mean...read the article...and then read it from both sides. Because seriously, you wonder just what people think when all they see is the picture and the headline.