Errol Morris’s “Liar, Liar, Pants on Fire”

“Liar, Liar, Pants on Fire”, by Errol Morris is a very unique approach to analyzing photographs and what they mean with and without context. In my opinion, Morris has completely overanalyzed the idea of what photos truly convey. Photographs are art, they show an individuals creative lens through which they see the world. Morris articulates that, “A captionless photograph, stripped of all context, is virtually meaningless. I need to know more.” I think photographs are much more of an innovative and imaginative expression that tell a story all on their own (even without context). In addition, photos without context to back them up actually allow individuals to create their own story behind the picture. In Morris’s example of the Lusitania ship, he explains that the photo cannot be true without a situation or background to define the picture before analyzing it. However, an invented or made up story about this ship may not be historically accurate, but that is not to say it isn’t inherently true for the person who has given an unknown photo his or her own context. Morris also explains that, “The issue of truth or falsity of a photograph is only meaningful with respect to statements about the photograph”. Morris also ends his article by saying that, “Pictures may be worth a thousand words, but there are two words that can never apply to them: ‘true’ and ‘false’”. I just don’t agree with what he is trying to say here because a photo without a caption is not inherently false or wrong just because someone didn’t write where and when and why he or she took it.

Art is a lie that tells the truth.