// Add the filter to manage the p tags
add_filter( 'the_content', 'wti_remove_autop_for_image', 0 );

function wti_remove_autop_for_image( $content )
{
     global $post;

     // Check for single page and image post type and remove
     if ( is_single() && $post->post_type == 'image' )
          remove_filter('the_content', 'wpautop');

     return $content;
}

$imageContent = get_the_content();
$stripped = strip_tags($imageContent, '<p> <a>'); //replace <p> and <a> with whatever tags you want to keep after the strip
echo $stripped;

remove_filter( 'the_content', 'wpautop' );

remove_filter( 'the_excerpt', 'wpautop' );

<?php remove_filter ('the_content', 'wpautop'); ?>

add_filter( 'the_content', 'remove_autop_for_image', 0 );

function remove_autop_for_image( $content ) {
     global $post;

     if ( is_singular('image'))
          remove_filter('the_content', 'wpautop');

     return $content;
}

p:empty {
  display: none;
}

.single-post .entry-content p:empty { display: none; }

.single-format-image .entry-content p:empty { display: none; }

<?php remove_filter ('the_content', 'wpautop'); the_content(); ?>