Counting Lessons in Purgatory, New Mexico, Joel-Peter Witkin

Unlike many photographic artists, whose vision is concentrated

solely in their photographic or darkroom efforts, Witkin uses

titles worthy of literary aspirations, but this valuation of the

literary is never for its own sake. Each title transcends

mere labeling, a charge that might be laid at the feet of many

otherwise fine photographers, and adds a dimension

to images that already bear multiple shades of meaning.