Does a photo need to say something?

[Henrietta]

Its not a question of "need to say something". Every photo does say something. Its just a matter of saying something important.
A photo can say "Here is my cat."
or a photo can say "Here is an example of man's inhumanity to man."
Its sorta like asking, "Does a book have to say something?" If it doesn't say anything, its blank, And even then it says, "This author couldn't think of anything." Not important, but it does say something.

I agree with arne saknussen. Every photo does say something. But not all of them say something important. Many people take pictures trying to say something really important. What for do we have photo exhibitions? What for do we go there? Do we go just to stare at beautiful images? No, we go to have a look and understand what the photographer wanted to tell us. There are many interesting projects where people try to tell us something, to show their attitude to life and what they want to change. Recently I found one of them. It's dedicated to “The 100 days of Active Resistance” . Just have a look and it will make you think about our life, our word life...

[georgimz]

I don't think that that the photo needs to say something. It only have to be nice for the eye.