Oscar Wilde once said, “Life is too important to be taken seriously”. Since photography captures life, can the same be said of photography? This April Fools Day, Fotoflock.com speaks to several photographers, each with their own individual take on humorous photography.

One photographer who believes that photography is often taken too seriously (in fact, he suggested the title for this article) is Chip Simons. Describing himself as a “seriously funny” photographer, it is clear from his work that he revels in humour. How did he get into humorous photography? Chip explains that, “I was so bored with serious talks and shows, and doing serious photography (don’t laugh) that I began stacking all my funniest slides at the beginning of my talk… and then at intervals in the shows. That kept the audience enjoying the entertainment, even if they didn’t like the photography.” He had such great fun showing funny photos that he ran out of them and started making more. In his own words, "I found that I enjoyed making funny photos more than serious photos… that’s funny. Photography was fun? What about those gripping images I did for that really big magazine?... I won’t be taken seriously."

Chip draws on many sources for his humour. Many of his photographs originate from plays on words. For example, a picture of a cow perforated with holes (“Holy cow!”), a man with a donkey’s head (“What an ass!”) or two hay bales relaxing in a “seedy” hotel with the caption, “Hay, can you turn off the light!”

Another method Chip uses is what he describes as “random juxtapositioning" or even “plays on foods” i.e. using Photoshop to cut something out and paste it on to a random background to generate absurd imagery. Chip recommends trying this out as it "trains you how to see and think and improves your Photoshop skills…AND loosens up your tunnel vision. It is the photo equivalent of 'working out'". He also suggests that it can be a form of therapy, "This 'playing' with images and ideas reveals so much (to you and others) about how your brain works and is much more effective than any 250 dollar an hour therapy session!"

Chip also likes to distort his subjects into caricatures by using wide angle and fish eye lenses or adding coloured light "to enhance the emotional effect…and make them more entertaining and wondrous too". Commercial photographer Allison Leach, whose photographs have graced the pages of magazines including The New York Times Magazine and Esquire, also likes to create “caricatures or cartoons” since they are “easy to identify with”.  She recommends “using common cultural archetypes that are easily identifiable by the viewer so your concept (and hopefully it's a funny one) comes across”.

Indeed, one of Allison’s websites, www.misfitindustries.com explores the cultural archetype of the “misfits”, whom she describes as  “fabulous nobodies” with an “alternate universe of non-celebrity culture”.

On the other hand, street photographer (and member of the international collective of street photographers, in-public) David Gibson finds humour in everyday life, as his photos below illustrate. Two of the photos were taken during David’s recent visit to India.

He advises street photographers against using Photoshop or any other software to add humour to a photo because this is “completely against the spirit of street photography” and “would produce another kind of photography, which personally is of no interest to me. Any such ‘enhancement’ would to me scream something cheap, false and shallow”. He also urges fellow street photographers never to set up humorous shots, explaining that, “The joy of Street Photography is that it is real and visual humour is always better when it’s natural”.

Photographer and filmmaker, Jay Silverman also finds humour in real life – his subjects! He seems to have the knack of bringing out his subjects’ personality and sense of humour. How does he do this? As he explains, “When I shoot humour I normally try to give actors and models the freedom to not only express themselves but to explore more risky directions.  I encourage them to pull out the stops.  Since I'm a little crazy it's true I have played practical jokes on actors and celebrities,  this usually gets them comfortable and allows for a more expressive shoot.” Although we did ask Jay for some tips on practical jokes (what better day than today?), he was not forthcoming on this subject! 

Jay adds, “I also try to give them some creative reference like a classic movie, or even an example from an artist like Norman Rockwell.” One shot in particular comes to mind, “I recall shooting comedian, actor Rodney Dangerfield for a national AT&T Campaign. Photographically you would have never known it was him unless he got into his famous character. During my very short and high pressured shoot I decided to take a risk and ask him to grab the top of his tie and make that classic Rodney expression "I get no respect". He leaned very closely to me and said you get ONE chance, are you ready?  That was the exact frame that was used in the campaign and the only one that was usable...”

Once you have identified a humorous shot, how do you make sure that the humour is conveyed? According to Allison, “It's so important that your idea "reads"; so that means every prop, costume choice, and character has to resonate with your audience, and serve your "idea" (again, hopefully funny!).  Less is often more to make an idea pop.” For her caricatures, she prefers to cast real people rather than models. She also recommends working with actors and comedians as “they are used to using their bodies to tell a story or assume a character.  It's a lot like directing a little play, but without the aid of sound and dialogue, so the visuals have to be even more explicit and big!  I tell my models to pretend it's a silent movie, and to exaggerate everything (especially their facial expressions!).”

Although Allison sometimes uses prop/wardrobe stylists and hair and make-up artists, she believes that being able to style the shoot yourself is an important skill. This is because, “Not only will it save you money, but if you're not able to assemble a concept on your own, it's probably not strong enough, or you don't have a strong enough handle on it.  Also, once you've done your own styling for shoots, it's so much easier to direct stylists that you hire.”

As for colours, Allison likes to use “a very saturated, poppy colour palette.  It makes it more fun and heightens the surreality of the piece.  I'm not trying to pass my photos off as "real" or serious.  I want them to look theatrical, or cartoony.”

Chip Simons touches on the subject of humour being lost in translation. For example, since Germans don’t eat “corn dogs”, will they find a photo of a corn dog (a dog with a body made out of corn) funny?

He found that they did and put this down to the fact that, “there is another facet to humour in photography (besides distortion)…and kids know this better than adults…and that is wonder. The idea of something discovered…. and fantastic …..and there for you to uncover….and you had no idea such things existed. A bit of Magic!" He also mentions that, "What’s funny to one group may backfire with another", as he found when he suggested taking a photo of "battered women" (two women laughing and covered in crispy batter); "You should have seen the looks I got from the women in the room (and the whimpy guys)".

When it comes to street photography (which includes humour), David says that the best advice he can give is to “soak up the work of the best photographers” such as Henri Cartier-Bresson and Elliott Erwitt. One thing David admires about Erwitt’s work is that, “Erwitt obviously delights in the humour around him in the world but his work should never be boiled down to just that one thing. Humour is a wonderful ingredient but it should never be the whole story.”

There is one more (serious) thing to be said about humorous photography and that is that it is often closer to the truth than we are prepared to admit. In Chip’s words, “This is the irony of humour….it reveals truth." David seconds this point when he says that humour is one of several factors that reveal "just how odd life actually is". So, next time you are thinking of taking a 'serious' photograph, why not consider whether humour would convey the same point in a more revealing and memorable away. After all, as Sharad Haksar (whose "Brand Irony" series captured the irony of advertisements in India) says, "humour will always be remembered".

A good place to get started is by completing the following "assignment", as suggested by Chip Simons: -

• Stop making sense. Let things happen and give up control.
• Ask others to think of one funny picture to do. Do it and it will help you get on a roll (that’s a good fast food image).
• Take self-portraits of yourself making the most bizarre faces you can make.
• Ask a large group of people to all do the same thing or wear the same thing.
• Come up with sayings that you have never seen illustrated…(this is a psych test to see how twisted you are really).
• Take one food product and have 15 different people do something with it.
• Lastly, cut out any object you can find on the computer and paste it on the first background you can find….and see what happens. Make shadows and then make up a punch line or dialogue. Two hot dogs having a conversation at a shopping mall? That should get ya going…and remember, once you go funny, there may be no turning back.

Go on, enjoy a laugh and share it!
To mark today as a fun-filled day, Fotoflock.com is pleased to announce the launch of its “Photography and Fun” section. In this section, you will find some examples of what timing (good or bad), positioning and a good sense of humour can add to a photo. If you have any such photos to share with us, mail them to us at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .