A Word Is Worth
A Thousand Pictures
A Thousand Pictures
The love affair has begun. Photo researchers are discovering that computers are emerging from their teen-age years, leaving behind their shortcomings of the last decade, and are redefining themselves and emerging as mature adults. Researchers
At the same time, photo researchers are discovering that they, too, must shed some archaic working ways in order to capitalize on the new electronic researching systems that have become available to us all.
I could outline numerous methods of research that are now available utilizing the new technology. You may be familiar with some of them, but I'll leave that to your own discovery, and jump ahead to methods of research coming in the near future that you'll want to become aware of and be prepared to capitalize on.
The Internet offers two basic ways of searching for a specialized image: by text or image. Most researchers who have a track record in the field of researching have opted to use the method they are most familiar with: the image method. They type in a generic subject word in a search facility and then it's business as usual. They look at dozens, even hundreds, of images from a number of sources, and eventually select a small number of images for their client to view.
But "image search" can be exhausting, and time-consuming, especially when the researcher is attempting to highlight a story with that just-right photo.
THE NEW APPROACH
The "image search" method would seem acceptable if it were not for a new approach that is beginning to make itself known in researching circles: Text.
Researchers need no longer be satisfied with "good enuf" pictures. Much deeper selections and more targeted images are now becoming more available for the asking, thanks to the simplified and speedier capabilities of searching for images through electronic text search.
As the viewing public has become more sophisticated in their viewing habits, they are becoming ever more demanding. We have only to look at a textbook or magazine article from fifty years ago to discern the shallow nature of the photos that were deemed acceptable in those days.
I believe the "text" system will win over the "image" system in electronic photo research of the future. Both electronic systems are admittedly in their early stages.
We have seen that when TV, movie, and other media want to do a story on a particular subject, they do extensive searching for details. In the past, these facts were hidden in places that were not readily available to the average researcher. The general public accepted whatever thesis the producer came up with -- because it was good enough, based on the research facilities available at the time, combined with the deadline the producer was facing.
Research involves a series of levels. We usually give credibility to an erudite report from a college professor or in a textbook, a little less credibility to a newspaper article, and much less to a TV show or radio interview. The constraints of a time deadline are an influencing factor.
This is beginning to change. We have experienced, for example, the results of the extensive research done by Ken Burns in his PBS TV productions. Professionals working in other media now have equal access to the research methods and materials that were formerly the province of college lecturers and authors, who weren't constricted by the tight deadlines of newspaper and magazine writers.
And how is that material accessed? In the past, photo researchers looking for images would look for, well, images. When you observe past issues of magazines, textbooks and so on, you can see that the photo researcher seldom had the luxury of enough time to dig down deep to come up with content-specific photos. We, as readers, excused this. Deep research wasn't usually available.
"........ If a picture is worth a thousand words, then
a thousand words ought to be used to describe that picture."
Today, thanks to the Internet, this is happening. And it's speedy. The speediest way to look for a picture is to use key words to describe the needed elements. This leaves the work to the owner of the picture, not to the researcher. If a picture is worth a thousand words, then a "thousand" words ought to be used to describe that picture. The photo researcher, using a few targeted keywords, will find the source of the photo they need, if the photographer has described that photo properly in their database. This includes entering not only the direct physical description of the picture, but conceptual aspects of it as well, such as danger, love, fear, joy, helplessness, etc.
Does this change the way photo researchers go about their work? Yes. In the past, researchers didn't expect to always find on-target pictures because images were seldom fully identified for thorough research. Researchers had to resort, in most cases, to select second-best. But today, thanks to search engines and websites that recognize the capability of finding just-right pictures,
For example, say a researcher is finding photos to illustrate a magazine article on artichokes that mentions a particular restaurant in Carmel, California that serves a tasty artichoke recipe. If photographer "A" has a picture of that restaurant, or access to get a current digital picture of it quickly, and photo researcher '"B" puts a search out for that exact picture, a match can be made -- if the photographer has listed "Mervin's Bistro" in his or her Internet stocklist database.
The technology is available. The only thing missing is the education of photo researchers, and the labor on the part of photographers to put lengthy descriptions into their stock list electronic database of their available pictures, both the photos in their files and digital photos they can get within a day's drive.
Increasing numbers of photo researchers and editors are looking to text-based searching systems to find the photos they need. Photographers will respond by expanding their electronic text descriptions on their websites, photo researchers will shed their limited "image search" method, and the result will be a new dawn for picture suppliers and buyers. -RE
 Tommy Thompson |
 Kerry Kolb |
 Jon Saban |
 Jake Nelson |