No Caption Needed is a blog dedicated to public discussion of the role that photojournalism and other visual practices play in a vital democratic society. We feature images from the news and image analysis that values both artistic values and social critique, reason and emotion, conventional appeals and alternative visions, diversity and solidarity.

The blog began almost by accident in 2007, following publication of the book by the same name. Whereas the book focused on those few images that have become icons of public culture, the blog focuses on the artistry to be found in the daily stream of images in the news media. These photographs typically are seen at a glance and forgotten, but many of them are remarkable moments of public art. Because these artworks are scattered throughout our daily experience, they provide easily available resources for political, cultural, and ethical reflection. If, that is, they are seen for what they are: images for thinking about public life.

To get the blog started, we posted daily for months, and then soon settled into a rhythm of three posts a week plus a Sight Gag on Sundays. We maintained that schedule for years, but more recently activity has slowed: first, as we took more and more time to write The Public Image, and now for a variety of reasons that include spending more time on our day jobs and on writing for other outlets. The blog contains an extensive archive of our posts, however, each of which features one or more images. Please feel welcome to browse through the archive. We don’t even recall all that is there, but even if the images don’t speak for themselves they certainly might catch your eye and continue to reward your attention.

We also will continue to post occasionally. If you sign up for our Twitter feed, you will get a Tweet each time a new post appears. Comments always are welcome, whether at the blog or elsewhere. As we’ve been saying for years, no caption needed, but many are provided…