Let us admire the woman with the immaculate desk for a moment.
Beautiful light. Excellent cardigan. Plant enjoying a level of care my own plant can only dream of. She appears delighted to be pointing at something just outside the frame.
I have now admired her. I still don't know whether the appointment takes place in a room, on a video call or in my house.
This is my recurring argument with decorative photography. Not that it has no place. Sometimes a mood is useful; sometimes a page needs a little breathing space. But a large image takes up a lot of the opening on a phone. I like to ask what I learn while scrolling past it.
Recently I made a scrappy comparison in my notebook. On one side, a cheerful group around a table. On the other, a rough picture of a sample plan with three labelled parts. The first said, “These people seem pleasant.” The second let me imagine what I would leave the appointment holding.
Different jobs. Only one answered the question I had brought to the page.
I don't insist on a photograph for every explanation. A simple sketch might show the service sequence more clearly. A written example might let someone recognise their own unfinished idea. A cropped detail with a useful caption can explain more than a glorious wide shot of the whole building.
My favourite question for the person choosing the image is: what would somebody be able to point at and ask about?
If the answer is the actual workspace, the sample document or a feature of the product, we have something interesting. If the answer is “the vibe,” perhaps the useful explanation needs its own space beside it.
There is also the tiny matter of accuracy. An image of equipment needs to represent what the service really uses. An illustrative sample needs to be identified as a sample. Showing a fancy room because it looks persuasive is a poor idea if the customer will be invited somewhere completely different.
Before approving the picture, I read the caption on my phone. Can I see the detail it names? Does the crop cut it off? Does the label explain the thing, or merely announce that it is innovative?
An image can be beautiful and earn its space. I love that combination. I'm just a little tired of being introduced to twelve smiling people before learning what the bloody appointment includes.
A thought worth keeping?
