Friday 9 May, 2014
The Guardian again. Well, it's easy for them - they give over the centre spread to pictures every day. Quite. It's an affirmation of the importance of images to a newspaper, of a single shot that invites the reader to pause and study. You don't get that with television, you certainly don't get it with radio and you rarely get it with the internet. Do we even have the patience to wait the 20 seconds it takes for a video to load as we skim through Buzzfeed or Facebook or Twitter? Today's offering combines an intriguing planetary composition with some sharp caption writing and an excellent heading - Oceans' eleven - if it's not clear enough to read on this screen.
This is one of a series of four pictures by Mandy Barker entitled Penalty. The photographer wanted to show the how much plastic was accumulating in the oceans, so she issued an online appeal for people to send her footballs found washed up on the beach. As the caption explains, they were photographed as found, "unwashed and unaltered, some containing seawater, others drained. Some were home to creatures, including a shrew, an ants' nest and a family of crabs, while others showed signs of having been bitten by turtles and fish."
The paper points to a 1970 Mexico World Cup replica ball and a couple stamped with the signatures of Trevor Brooking and Kevin Keegan - so we know that some of the balls have been bouncing around on the waves for decades.
This is a great example of a caption tempting readers to explore for themselves. Now we know what the picture is all about we can make our own discoveries: the ball in blue rope netting, the dragon symbols, the Hello Kitty, the Shoot No 5, the L.W.Sherrin rugby ball amid all the round ones. And when we've finished our game of spot the ball, we can pause to look at the shapes, the levels of distress, the outer skins that have vanished.
It's not news. But then, neither is Katie Price.
You can see the picture on the Guardian website here
The Guardian again. Well, it's easy for them - they give over the centre spread to pictures every day. Quite. It's an affirmation of the importance of images to a newspaper, of a single shot that invites the reader to pause and study. You don't get that with television, you certainly don't get it with radio and you rarely get it with the internet. Do we even have the patience to wait the 20 seconds it takes for a video to load as we skim through Buzzfeed or Facebook or Twitter? Today's offering combines an intriguing planetary composition with some sharp caption writing and an excellent heading - Oceans' eleven - if it's not clear enough to read on this screen.
This is one of a series of four pictures by Mandy Barker entitled Penalty. The photographer wanted to show the how much plastic was accumulating in the oceans, so she issued an online appeal for people to send her footballs found washed up on the beach. As the caption explains, they were photographed as found, "unwashed and unaltered, some containing seawater, others drained. Some were home to creatures, including a shrew, an ants' nest and a family of crabs, while others showed signs of having been bitten by turtles and fish."
The paper points to a 1970 Mexico World Cup replica ball and a couple stamped with the signatures of Trevor Brooking and Kevin Keegan - so we know that some of the balls have been bouncing around on the waves for decades.
This is a great example of a caption tempting readers to explore for themselves. Now we know what the picture is all about we can make our own discoveries: the ball in blue rope netting, the dragon symbols, the Hello Kitty, the Shoot No 5, the L.W.Sherrin rugby ball amid all the round ones. And when we've finished our game of spot the ball, we can pause to look at the shapes, the levels of distress, the outer skins that have vanished.
It's not news. But then, neither is Katie Price.
You can see the picture on the Guardian website here
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