Out of Frame

Here are a few photos of people on the street looking at something out of the frame, unseen by the camera and unknown by me.  Not knowing what is in their heads, it is a cartoon with a blank balloon comment or a "fill-in-the-caption".  

I did an experiment with the photo below.  I honestly couldn't come up with a title for this particular shot.  But, I was intrigued by what they were looking at.  So, I called the picture "Nudity".  

Nudity

If they were looking at nudity, I didn't see it.  I wanted to see if anyone would ask me about it.  Well, jokes on me, no one said anything.  Either they didn't read the capture or didn't care.  People did like the shot itself though.  

Here's another one of people looking at something (I don't know what it was... probably big buildings).  This one is self-explanatory, "Oz".  

Oz

For other posts about captions, see "Captioned or Not" and also "Caption Fun".  

Caption Fun

Here's one... a creation of a moment that didn't exist (at least I don't think it existed).  

Here's a caption, "Huh....!???  We've been working the same beat, standing side by side for five years, and NOW you're calling me for a date?"

Beat Call

Captioned or Not?

Some street photographers don't like to caption their shots.  They think the interpretation is to be left to the viewer of the picture.  Alternatively, I choose to caption every shot (even to the point where if I'm stumped, I will caption is as "uncaptioned").  I think the photographer's state of mind adds a clue or interpretation that might be missed by a casual viewer.    

Sometimes the caption can create a story where there was none.  The story can be true, or completely imaginary.  For instance.... I spotted a construction worker with knee-height rubber boots talking on the cell phone.  The texture of his boots seemed interesting to me.  So, I took a few shots of his boots.  He crossed the street and approached a dress shop.  I took a picture of him before he passed the window, and the one below right after he passed.   Both pictures were good and showed a nice contrast of the man and the mannequins but the second suggested a story to me.  I entitled it, "A Cry for Attention".    

A Cry for Attention

Some photographers go way beyond the title and write the story out in detail.  I usually don't do that, but I found that my title led to multiple interpretations.  Here is what my thinking is:  

The girls were attracted to the boot guy and were all seeking a response.  He obviously doesn't care and has other things on his mind. The girl in the red, made a particular fool of herself (by posing differently and dressing in red).  The other girls are all glaring at her "cry for attention" (from him) for trying to upstage them.  

So, even with the caption, you could have come up with something yourself.  Or maybe you wouldn't.  But, the truth of the story is that a construction worker walked past a dress store and that's not much of a story.