Sure, the above is a beautiful photograph (in my opinion)—but does it mean anything? Does it carry any weight?
I can try to assign it significance. I can write an extensive caption about the busyness of New York City (where I shot it.) I can think of things that it is a metaphor for. I can pretend that I knew what I was going to fill my bucket with before I started.
But truth be told, I captured it just because I thought it was pretty and love taking photos at night. That is all. I have no message.
Do you remember this photo? I assigned my metaphor and caption to it long after shooting. I found my contents after I’d found my bucket. And then I wrote them down on my blog. It turned out nicely, I think.
But I will not do that this time.
You might see a message in the shot above and come up with a series of interpretations, (busy night for a commuter, a woman takes a rest in a world moving too fast, etc.) and you might see meaning.
But know that I didn’t shoot it with one in mind. I just love ‘nice’ photos.
Busy Night (by Anthony Albright)
