The worst thing in the world that I could do as a photographer is give one of my images a title of “Untitled”. It’s probably the most pretentious thing that I can think of, followed closely by titling any image something vague, mysterious, or littered with big important-sounding words.

A friend recently brought up an interesting point — “titling is the art”. I’m still not sure how I feel about that, so I’m gonna let it fester in my brain for a little while longer.

Because most of my photos are superficial images of pretty girls, they don’t get titles any more complex than the subject’s name. But when I create something a little more artistic, do I have an obligation to give it a meaningful or interesting title? I don’t believe so. The viewer should think what they want to about the image, and not what I tell them to via manipulative words.

Above: a photo that lacks a title but probably deserves one. The tied-up heart was created by the same friend who provided the quote above about titles. What if I titled it “Love”? What if I titled it “Hate”? See the dilemma I have? Let it all hang out in the comments.