I presented the second session in my five week course on Reading Photographs today.
This week we looked at what shapes our reading of photographs. I suggested it depends on ourselves, the subject and the context; and our response may be emotional or rational or considered – and maybe a mix of all three.
Ourselves: Includes our demographic, life experiences and emotional state and sometimes ourselves as the subject.
Subject: Is it recognisable? What prior knowledge do we bring to it? Is it enjoyable/comforting or challenging/disturbing? Is it novel or familiar? Does it evoke times past? How does it square with our preconceptions/prejudices? Does it reflect our values? Is the subject active or reflective? Does it have references to known paintings and photographs? Is it memorable?
Context: Where and in what format is it viewed? Is it a single picture or part of a sequence? What does the caption tell us? Who took the picture?
How much we get from the image will also depend on how long we take to really look at it and interrogate its subject and meaning.
In summary how we read a photograph is more than just a gut reaction. It’s a combination of emotions, rationality and consideration. Reacting to a photograph is not the same as reading it
References: On Photography, Susan Sontag, 1973; The Ongoing Moment, Geoff Dyer, 2005; Blind Spot, Teju Cole, 2017, See/Saw, Geoff Dyer, 2021