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Thoughts on naming photos

In the process of moving to a new studio, I have started to think about the name I want to give the studio. The name should reflect who I am as an artist, what the new  space should feel like and what I hope to accomplish. As I have been painting and trying to come up with that name, I have gotten to think about how we create and name our photographs for a photo series. Naming photos is an important part of the creative process and can really make a difference in the creation of a body of work.

There are a number of ways that we can name a photograph. Two of the more common ways to title photographs are figurative and literal. Literal titles are just what the object is. Figurative are more narrative or story based. Depending on the work, either title can push the work forward, but the risk is that we create titles that are a distraction from the image.

Regardless of how you title your images, the titles should play a supportive role and strengthen the work. If you find the titles a distraction when you show the work or that they don’t help the view understand the work, that might be a single to consider for retitling an image.

If you are trying to figure out how to title images go back to your language you use to talk about your work and see how you can use those words as a starting point. In the end remember that the image is the most important thing that we want the viewer to remember not the title.

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