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Photographs & Context – Terry Barrett
The course notes point us to a very interesting essay “Photographs & Context”, by the American art critic and professor Terry Barrett., which I gives a enlightening introduction to the value of context in the interpretation of photographs.
By referencing a photograph by Robert Doisneau of a romantic couple in a café that Doisneau (taken with permission) as part of a project of cafés in Paris, shows just by in placement in other publications it underlying meaning was changed to illustrate a romantic liason, the perils of alcohol and prevalence of prosititution in Paris.
It is this placement or context that Barrett says is just as important to the photograph as the natartive contained within it. Barrett’s essay explains this very painly illustrating that is is the situation in which we see a image that effect how we are to intrepret he information it is providing no matter what the photographers was intending at the time. On this note my mind is drawn to the Afgan Girl by Steve McCurry – this is portrait of a if remember correctly 13 or 14 year old refugee – shot for National Geographic to help is llustrate the plight of the refugees after the Soviet invation of Afganistan. Howevert, we all now remember it one of the world most iconic portraits up the against Hollywood stars, mainly because of how we have seen this image since is original publication.
Basically photographs do not have inherient meaning – nor does any visual art, they require personal interpretation, Barrett suggests:
“In interpreting [photographs]….. there three sources of information are available for examination: information evident in the picture, information surrounding the picture in its presentation, and information about the pictures making”
Whilst these pieces of information are availble in all photographs, they are not always perfectly presented and as all require inpretation by the viewer it possible for a photograph to be interpret far away from the photographer original meaning or intention.
Bibliography
B PhotAndCont 97 (2010) Available at: http://www.terrybarrettosu.com/pdfs/B_PhotAndCont_97.pdf (Accessed: 17 February 2016).