Head shots were among the first uses of photography when newspapers began publishing photos. They provided a quick visual reference to people mentioned or quoted in stories. To this day, they remain favorites.
Take a sample of a newspaper to a focus group, and it does not take a specialized eye-tracking computer to see how the eyes rest on and read the head shots.
They are quick encyclopedic references to who is in the story. Like headlines — and sometimes even more than so — head shots alert readers to the “what” of the story as well.
In addition, head shots require little space, become unobtrusive in the overall look of the page, and create energy without overpowering other elements around them.
Some tips for the use of head shots:
1. Use them small, and create a template, so that all head shots throughout the entire newspaper are the same exact size. Nothing can be worse than a newspaper without a head shot style in which the sports pages use bigger head shots than the business section, for example.
2. Head shots should be closely cropped. The face is what is important. It’s no use to let somebody’s tie or stomach show in what is meant to be a facial representation. By the same token, avoid the “passport” shot, where it is difficult to identify the subject.
3. Always use a caption, regardless of how well known the face may be. It is a matter of journalistic style.
4. Head shots can be utilized within the text of a story, but also accompanied by a quote or highlight of the story.
5. Head shots can be in black and white or color. Readers like them both ways.
6. And, yes, head shots can be drawings, as well as photos. The Wall Street Journal has a particular style for what it calls “head cuts.” Images of people in the news do not appear as photos, but as pencil sketches. This renders the WSJ a unique style that is easily recognizable to habitual readers.
Regardless of how they are used, head shots enhance the storytelling process in a visual way.
–All or a portion of this column was originally published in the IFRA newsletter.
