# Do these photographs have names? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [November 8, 2007, 9:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-these-photographs-have-names/425708 "2007-11-08T21:13:57Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Biggirl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biggirl/32/3294_2.png) [@Biggirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biggirl)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2007, 9:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-these-photographs-have-names/425708/1 "2007-11-08T21:13:57Z")
Do photographs usually get named? I’m hoping most people will know which pictures I mean with the discriptions. One is from National Geographic, the little Middle Eastern girl with those striking green eyes. Billy Holiday stage-lit with a drink in her hand looking pretty used up. The Italian guys oggling the pretty woman walking down the street. ---
**Author:** ![Encinitas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ee7513/32.png) [@Encinitas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Encinitas)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2007, 9:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-these-photographs-have-names/425708/2 "2007-11-08T21:24:12Z")
[QUOTE=Biggirl] One is from National Geographic, the little Middle Eastern girl with those striking green eyes. [/QUOTE] This is called [Afghan Girl](http://content.answers.com/main/content/wp/en/9/94/Sharbat_Gula.png) ---
**Author:** ![Max\_Torque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Max\_Torque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_Torque)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2007, 9:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-these-photographs-have-names/425708/3 "2007-11-08T21:25:29Z")
Well, the National Geographic picture has come to be known as [“Afghan Girl”](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sharbat_Gula), but the name seems to have sort of spontaneously arisen over a period of time due to the photograph’s fame. I certainly don’t recall the photo having a name when it was first published. ---
**Author:** ![Monstera\_deliciosa](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/monstera_deliciosa/32/109_2.png) [@Monstera\_deliciosa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monstera_deliciosa)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2007, 9:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-these-photographs-have-names/425708/4 "2007-11-08T21:33:47Z")
If I understand your description correctly, the third photo is [“American Girl in Italy.”](http://www.orkinphoto.com/amergirl.html) ---
**Author:** ![Shayna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shayna/32/17976_2.png) [@Shayna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shayna)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2007, 9:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-these-photographs-have-names/425708/5 "2007-11-08T21:36:56Z")
You can see the side-by-side images of the “Afghan Girl”, “then” and “now”, [here](http://magma.nationalgeographic.com/ngm/afghangirl/). ---
**Author:** ![Biggirl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biggirl/32/3294_2.png) [@Biggirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biggirl)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2007, 9:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-these-photographs-have-names/425708/6 "2007-11-08T21:38:56Z")
Thanks people! So the answer is, photographs are named by ‘the people’? ---
**Author:** ![Shayna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shayna/32/17976_2.png) [@Shayna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shayna)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2007, 9:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-these-photographs-have-names/425708/7 "2007-11-08T21:41:45Z")
[QUOTE=Biggirl] Billy Holiday stage-lit with a drink in her hand looking pretty used up. [/QUOTE] [Is this the one](http://www.nea.gov/about/40th/milthinton.html) you’re talking about? ---
**Author:** ![Biggirl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biggirl/32/3294_2.png) [@Biggirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biggirl)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2007, 9:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-these-photographs-have-names/425708/8 "2007-11-08T21:49:07Z")
[QUOTE=Shayna] [Is this the one](http://www.nea.gov/about/40th/milthinton.html) you’re talking about? [/QUOTE] Yeup, that’s the one! ---
**Author:** ![h.sapiens](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e0b2c6/32.png) [@h.sapiens](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/h.sapiens)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2007, 9:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-these-photographs-have-names/425708/9 "2007-11-08T21:55:22Z")
The photographer may have a title for his or her work, but the general public may not know it by that name. If a photo has been displayed in a gallery or museum, or printed in a magazine dedicated to fine photography, the photographer’s own title would appear next to it, but mainstream magazines don’t usually include that name, so if it becomes well know, people would just give it an simple, descriptive name. The same thing happens with other artworks. James McNeil Whistler’s “Arrangement in Gray and Black: The Artist’s Mother” is better known simply as “Whistler’s Mother”, for instance. ---
**Author:** ![Shayna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shayna/32/17976_2.png) [@Shayna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shayna)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2007, 10:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-these-photographs-have-names/425708/10 "2007-11-08T22:19:08Z")
[QUOTE=Biggirl] Yeup, that’s the one! [/QUOTE] You can see a few more images from that same recording session, along with some text by the photographer describing her mood, [here](http://www.milthinton.com/html/billie.html). ---
**Author:** ![Biggirl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biggirl/32/3294_2.png) [@Biggirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biggirl)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2007, 10:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-these-photographs-have-names/425708/11 "2007-11-08T22:29:16Z")
[QUOTE=Shayna] You can see a few more images from that same recording session, along with some text by the photographer describing her mood, [here](http://www.milthinton.com/html/billie.html). [/QUOTE] Again, thanks. Along with the story behind Afghan Girl you linked to, this thread has turned out a whole lot more informative than I could have hoped for.