Caption This: A Photographic Collection of Amusing Comments, Snarky Asides, and Romantic Admissions

A fascinating collection of photographs from the past century that have surprising, funny, and poignant captions.

Whether it’s words scrawled in pencil below an old Polaroid or a pithy comment on a social media photo, we’ve all felt a pull to describe in words and sentences the pictures and moments of our lives. This celebration of a century of personal photo captions, in all their forms, themes, and voices, explores the captivating (and often contradictory) relationship between what we see in photos and what we say about them.

Through 150 color and black-and-white vintage photographs of everyday people dating back to the early twentieth century, arranged in nine thematic chapters (This is me grooving, This is my snarky side, This is me in love, etc.), Caption This reveals a funny and surprising secret history of the handwritten or typed caption.

Caption This is a unique delight for photography and pop culture enthusiasts that combines the candidness of Awkward Family Photos with the confessional intimacy of PostSecret.

Barbara Levine and Paige Ramey are collectors, artists, and curators specializing in vernacular photography. Their photography collection, known as PhotoMania, was recently acquired by the Museum of Fine Arts Houston, and their collection of vintage photograph albums was acquired by the International Center of Photography in New York. They run Project B, an archive and collaborative curatorial venture. They live in Houston and San Miguel de Allende, Mexico.