Abstract

Language has always been central to the meaning and exploitation of photographic images. However, the various types and "styles" of language associated with different photographic genres have been largely overlooked. This book considers the nature of photography, examining the language used in titles, captions and commentaries, particularly as they relate to documentary photography, photojournalism and fashion photography.

The Spoken Image addresses the question of how the photograph communicates its message, with or without the aid of language. The book looks at the work of film-makers such as Antonioni and Greenaway to contrast filmic methods of narration with those of photography. Scott concludes that photography has arrived at a level of communicative sophistication equal to that of modern textual narratives, in conjunction with which it often works.
In this excellent study, Scott argues that while language is deemed crucial to the interpretation of photography, we have insufficient information about how language is used in relation to various photographic genres . . . Readers interested in photography, film, postmodernism, and the nature of narrative itself will find Scott's book captivating, and, at times, positively breathtaking.' – British Journal of Aesthetics The Spoken Image displays its author's deep knowledge of a wide range of literature on meaning and photography, and the book is well produced and illustrated.' – Times Higher Education
Clive Scott is Professor of European Literature at the University of East Anglia and has published several books on French poetry, including The Poetics of French Poetry (1998).