To Caption Or Not To Caption?

Cool Valley Motel Sign, Cherokee, NC  -  2011

(Click on photo to enlarge.)

I have to admit that I usually feel compelled to say or write a little something to accompany my photos. What the photo is, or why I made the photo is something I usually feel needs to be explained. I've read that magazine and book editors are very often frustrated by most photographer's inability or unwillingness to properly caption their photos. Walker Evans continually had FSA Information Director Roy Stryker pulling his hair out over this issue. Evans simply wouldn't caption as completely as Stryker wanted, or often wouldn't caption at all.

The other side of the argument is that many photographers believe the image should speak for itself. Evans obviously felt that way, believing himself to be an artist first, a visual historian second. In Ansel Adams' autobiography he writes the following about his friend, photographer Edward Weston, "Edward never gave the impression that he expected anyone to like his work. His prints were what they were. He gave no explanations; in creating them his obligation to the viewer was complete." In other words, the photograph should be a strong enough statement by the photographer on it's own; no explanation needed. I wish I was that secure about the strength of my photos to stand on their own without accompanying text, but I'm usually not.

On today's post I'm going to venture out of my comfort zone and not say anything about the photo except it's location and date. I'll leave it to the viewer to speculate why I chose to make it. Then tomorrow I'll probably lose my nerve and go back to more completely captioning my photos.