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Hello again, welcome to another blog from somewhere inside the inner workings of NathanPhoto, as this is the second one of the month, and in following my new formula, this musing is going to explore well, it can be anything I want to really, as I have this classed as open ended possibly calling it a spacer.
I’m actually going to be away this week, so this is written in advance and possibly posted after or before depending on how I view the content. If anything happens then this spacer will look a bit out of touch or silly, but that is the price of a ‘spacer’ type musing, speaking of content like this has me thinking of the making of and the sharing of spacer images.
Now I believe I can hear you ask…Spacer images???? But what?? what are those?
I think many people know of them but most likely have different names for them, maybe it is just a hangover from my ‘old’ days or maybe it’s something that is still valid, I’m not sure. They are more akin to the more commonly known music tracks known as fillers but in images they are possibly less well known, let me try my definition of them.
· An image that is used as a stopgap in a sequence of images between monumental images to either add weight to the standout images or convey a message/detail or it can be used as a link between images. It’s Contemporary is the boring bit of a journey, which is usually, (especially in this fast-paced, mainly moving image culture,) speeded up or simply passed over.
· An image that is used as part of a set when sending images from a specific ‘job’ that possibly doesn’t have the same impact as the others. It can work as an introduction to the story or can be used small and still convey the thrust of the story.
This all stems from some advice I was told many years ago as not to lead with your strongest image first but to build them up (again with the music analogy, it’s all in the build-up, much like a DJ doesn’t lay the real bangers at the beginning of their set for example) This used to help with the placement of images but when thinking of these problems of the sequence placement, I wonder whether this is just a factor applied in the old days or if it still has relevance?
Backstory here is when originally sending in images to a newspaper system in the 90’s the last image sent was the first image seen, as in the newspaper office’s system would be set to see the latest images first, so the sequence could end up back to front, incredibly important if you wanted to build on something. Another sidenote here is also of the importance of the timing of the submission, it needed to be exact especially if sending overnight or out of hours or close to deadline for example.
Really not sure of this validity anymore especially with the advances in technology and/or systems. Therefore I wonder about these type of pictures, what has happened to the spacer image now?
I believe I do see them, well what I think is one, in use on Instagram. The lead image as a hook then a spacer then another hook image. I’ve also seen it coupled with the use of text to gain engagement in a post, specifically with the use of the caption ‘to see more swipe.”
Maybe it’s still as valid as it once was?
Although if I apply my stock market lens to image searches then it leads me to believe that the spacer image has completely lost its value, the detail shot is now being lost perhaps?
That’s an interesting one to muse upon, perhaps?
Anyway we’ve spoken a lot, would you like to see my examples of spacer images?
This is a few spacer images from my career (verb not noun) these are mainly from the CD archive so they date from 00’s to the 10’s, a range of different editorial, press and pr jobs, where the spacer was king.
What do we think? Any good?
Thank you for reading. And if you have any feedback, thoughts, comments or anything’s, then please get me though the usual channels.