Arts: Do Aliens Need Photo Captions?

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Brow Beat Do Aliens Need Photo Captions? By Heather Murphy Posted Friday, Sep 21, 2012, at 01:47 PM ET How does one decide what images represent humanity, and the earth itself, to date? If you had to get it down to 100 images, would you include this one? Or this one? The images above and in this gallery were selected by geographer-artist-extraordinaire Trevor Paglen and his team to be sent into space in the form of a silicon disc encased in a gold-plated shell. The idea being that in billions of years when humanity is long gone, someone (something?) may be curious about what once existed here. These images, which are hitching a ride into space along with communications satellite EchoStar XVI, propose to fill in some of those blanks. Without captions. This detail in particular clearly irritated German filmmaker Werner Herzog, who appeared on a panel Wednesday to discuss the project and its companion book, both titled The Last Pictures. Taking the stage alongside Paglen in New York's Bryant Park, Herzog asked, "How do you tell them about the background of the photo?" He objected in particular to a photo of a smiling child at a Japanese-American internment camp—one of many photos Herzog called a "cheap shot at the aliens." Why would you want to suggest the internment camp was a happy place? How are the aliens supposed to know any better? What gives images their meaning is context, Herzog insisted. Paglen said that it was precisely the contradiction created by the smile that made the photograph such a powerful image. What's more, captions were ... To continue reading, click here. Join the Fray: our reader discussion forum What did you think of this article? POST A MESSAGE | READ MESSAGES Also In Slate Gaming Gay Marriage Head Games Ah, Fugitive Visions	Advertisement
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