Reading Assessment 3

Criticizing Photographs By Terry Barrett (Photographs and Contexts: Page 106-126)

            This chapter explains that you need to know the context of photos (eg. who took, when taken, where, for what purpose) in order to accurately place them in categories. Context can be internal, original or external. Internal context is when you pay attention to the physical aspects of the photo; you look at the subject matter, the medium, the form and their relationship. You can tell the internal context of a photo just by observing it. Original context is when you know the background behind the photo. You know the meaning or situation or photographer and this context gives the photo much more depth. External context is where the photograph is found or how it is presented. Where a photo can be found affects its context (whether it is found in a magazine, advertisement, museum, etc.). Where a photo is found or its “channel of transmission” also gives the photo strong connotations.

            What I learned from this is how much goes into a photograph. There are so many aspects you need to consider when you are interpreting photos. I found it very interesting that the context was broken up into three different sections. I find that original context is what we assume ‘context’ in general is. The addition of internal and external context makes the contextual information of a photo much more complex.

            What I found really interesting is when the chapter breaks down the one photo by Barbara Kruger. It very meticulously analyzes each of the three contexts found within it. Then the chapter proceeds to explain how the photo fits or doesn’t fit into each of the six categories. This lasts for almost twelve pages of the chapter. The sheer length of it stood out to me as it truly demonstrates how much goes into the understanding of a photo.

            I also found the concept of external context very interesting, as I have never thought of it in that way. I never quite questioned why the photo is presented in the way it is and how that changes its meaning. I found this concept very intriguing and I believe that you can develop this concept in interesting ways.