Unnecessary Words

9/10/2012 tringel 1 Comments

I hadn't even reached the first chapter when I discovered what one of my biggest challenges will be this semester. Being concise, direct, to the point. I have a tendency to ramble, well not necessarily ramble, but give ALL of the details. I have done this for as long as I can remember. My friends have always commented on how, without fail, I turn what should be a 2-minute recap into a half an hour story. In my eyes these details are relevant. I want them to get the full experience as I had. But to them, they could have had the same effect with the 2-minute version. And when I stop to think about it, it is probably true. For example, if I want to tell them I have a bruise on my knee, do they really need to know what I was doing before during and after the bruise occurred, who I was with, what I was wearing, eating, etc.? Even now, I am sure I could have condensed these thoughts to be much more brief.

This got me to thinking, what other types of communication does this apply to. First I thought of television shows. They are scheduled weekly, yet we are not given detail by detail the events that took place from one Thursday to the next. We can fill in the gaps with the information we are given, and if we don't the information must not be that important because we don't spend time wondering. I know I don't wonder how my favorite television stars did there hair each day or what they had for every meal. These details are irrelevant. Even when they show meal time on television, who actually pays attention to the food? Rather, it is just noticed that there is eating going on in general.

But what about communication that doesn't have dialogue. I am also taking a photography course this semester which made me jump to images. The key to a good photograph is to capture just what you think is important . If you have to much in focus it just confuses the viewer of what they are looking at. And just as extra words are not necessary, background aren't always either. Of course if you are capturing a landscape, but then other details like whole else is at the scene is not necessary. I have found a few pictures of that I think have hit the spot with simplicity, yet thoroughly express a message.  Do you agree? What do you think the photographs are trying to portray? Do they need more to express there message or can they stand alone as they are currently?

1. Artist: Jennifer Englehardt, Title: Simple Flower, Source: http://fineartamerica.com/featured/simple-flower-jennifer-englehardt.html