Caption This!

An exhibition by Barbara Levine and Paige Ramey in collaboration with Martin Venezky.

Presented at the Houston Center for Photography, November 1 - 19th, 2023. We have all become familiar with the look and feel of old photographs, a moment from another era frozen in time. But when an original caption is also part of that image—handwritten, typed, emblazoned, scratched, or scrawled on the back or front—that new layer magically draws us in. This installation presents a series of photographs we think have that magic. Through collage, enlargements, details, and original vintage photographs, we offer you humor, sweetness, confession and mystery. Each caption is an intervention that inserts itself into the picture. It is an additional voice inviting us to re-experience the image and challenge what we thought we knew. Often the caption contradicts the image, can rarely be ignored, and has the final word. Accompanying the installation is the book, Caption This: A photographic collection of Amusing comments,Snarky asides, and Romantic admissions by Barbara Levine and Paige and published by Princeton Architectural Press.