Are Image Titles Important?

The answer to that is going to be different from artist to artist.

Showing a friend a calendar of my abstract work she commented on each piece, and on coming back to the cover image (Dragon Dance) she remarked “Dragon Dance. Why did you call it that?”

Dragon Dance

Sometimes the answer is simple, but other times it’s based on the image’s impact and emotional responses within myself. This is the case with Dragon Dance. While there are two dragons in this image, it’s name encompasses more than that. As a child, I was introduced to dragons by my father - picking an old record out of a pile of hundreds, he played it for me, and I immediately became enamoured of the dragon, Puff (puff the magic dragon, lived by the sea…). I had a long and enjoyable relationship with that dragon…Puff and I had many conversations, and he populated many dreams. Though “dragons be scary” to others, to me they are a joyful creature, full of fun - and Puff (at least for a while) had a joyful freedom about him. In many ways, those are human traits. So Dragon Dance is named for my childhood, for joy and freedom, and…for Puff.

A simple name, like the image below, comes simply from the image itself. This is a photo-manipulation that began with a photo of Autumn Gourds…which is the name of this abstract piece.

Autumn Gourds - Abstract

The image “Mood” is titled simply for it’s aura, or feeling. As in the this case, when I look at a completed piece a word or series of words floats to the surface of my mind…it’s usually what I feel at seeing a completed work, and often, it will become the piece’s title.

Mood

So, what’s in a name? Is it important? Does it matter?

To some artists it’s very important - it helps to impart to the audience the artist’s thoughts; it often has people wondering about the title’s relationship to the image; it gives an image…presence.

To other artists, it doesn’t matter if there’s a name at all, and their galleries contain many images titled “untitled”, which in itself can say something.

Regardless of the title or non-title, the art itself should say something on it’s own…but to me, an image title (whether descriptive or emotional) is an important piece of the work itself.