Martin Parr plays off the power of a title. By calling his series "Bored Couples" the viewer instantly sees the people in his images as wanting to be anywhere except where they are when the photo was taken. The artist discussion on the website states:
"We do not know if these random couples are bored or not. Who is to say what is authentic when captioned as thus?"
It brings into light the power behind caption labels and the trans-formative abilities artists have on their audience. Captions, artist statements, etc, These all hold a significant weight upon an artist's work, which begs the question: Which influences which? Does the work ask the questions? Or is it the artist statement (or title) which is actually asking them?
Full series: http://www.magnumphotos.com/C.aspx?VP3=SearchResult&ALID=29YL53AJ9WN
-Post by Ricky