Criticizing Photographs: Chapter 5

This chapter talks about how viewers use contextual information to as accurately as possible place a photograph into one of the six categories already discussed in chapter 4.  There are three types of contextual information. These types are internal, original or external.

Internal contextual information is what is obvious to the view. Examples are the subject of the photograph, the form, medium and any relationships between those three aspects of a photograph. Terry Barrett points out that some photographs are easier to understand than others because they are from a culture in which the view is familiar with or they are of a subject that the view is familiar. It's also easy to understand photographs that have an art quality in which viewers can relate to. However, understanding of photographs all depends on prior knowledge.

Original contextual information depends on knowledge of art and the art world. Barrett mentions that it can often be easier to understand a photograph if the viewer can put the photograph back into its "original context" that way the viewer can see how the photograph was made, what was or wasn't included in the frame and why the artist chose to include somethings and maybe not others. Barrett mentions also that having some knowledge of the photographer's background can help reveal who his or her influences were in producing their artwork.

External context is situation where the photograph is presented. As we've seen while critiquing our own photographs, the placement of the photographs can affect the overall reception of the work. By placing our work on the plain white wall in the critique room, we are putting our photos on display, maybe not in the exact way we would like to if we were exhibiting them in a museum, but for the purpose of our class critiques, the wall works just fine as there isn't anything cluttering around the works to distract our eyes from the artwork. Barrett also points out that photographs can have different meanings depending on the different contexts it is used in and if text is added in some fashion (ie: a photograph in a book).

This chapter mentions that the interpretation of a photograph is both a personal and a collective thing. Typically it starts off as a personal act, but as one speaks with other knowledgable people, it morphs into a group's assessment of a piece of artwork. I think that this is true in the sense that sometimes, I might not fully understand the technical skills it takes to create a piece of artwork, but with the guidance and knowledge of a professor or fellow classmate, I am able to better appreciate the piece after learning what it took to create it.