Read a Photograph
 

Photography is powerful when an idea is born in a second. Further to the information one can derive from literature about the difficult and interesting subject of finding a way to read a photograph, lets discuss it also here in this marvelous photographic site. Photography is memories…it is emotions…it is a language. Our eyes are looking around, searching the key which gives the answer to the meanings and thoughts a photograph can create any time we look at it. Although in general a photograph should be technically correct, when the photographer wants to speak about emotions, I believe that one can follow his instinct. For example, an inclined photograph uphill can speak about difficulties, an effort to achieve something, a difficult aim. An inclined downhill can speak about a slide, or an instability, or desperation. An out of focus photo could imply a dream etc. And there is always one basic question. What is the key?

To me, this maybe picks up on points raised in the thread 'What to vote for?' My hopefully seemingly 'slap stick' shot in this weeks competition was given quite a bit of thought. Simply as I love exploring how sometimes light cuts through deep shadow. The items were quite carefully placed under the Dichroics; Perhaps not a technically perfect composition, but non the less one I hope that shows how light bounces around off various objects and surfaces, with interesting effect.

Corr this is openning a can of worms! Should a photograph be technically correct?? What is technically correct?? When does it become an interpretation that isn't understood by some, or many? I believe that any art, is somewhere going to be appreciated by someone, and, it may be easy or hard to understand the artists original intention. We are open to so many influences and cultures in life, that it is hard for an artist to gain a recognition of his/her true intention globally.We all know how people react to certain images in an exhibition or competition that this understanding or recognition is so hit and miss. The experienced and the not so experienced will have an opinion and like or dislike and this will come into question when viewing an image.
We also get caught up in the emotion of an image we may produce because the mind tricks us into thinking there is a deeper meaning there, we as the original artist are influenced not only by the image we produce, but the memory of what it was like to be there, we are also influenced my the world around us. How many times have you sat behind a PC and editted an image, to come back later, and re think the idea? Ever had a different CD on the hifi playing and been in a totally different mood simply because of the music playing changed your feeling to an image? Just think what influences the public will have when viewing your work going through their heads? Horrendous war images by Don McCullin speak of the desperation of so many, yet for some will be seen as a fitting end to these non believing infidels! Who is correct in what they read???
I believe the "key" doesnt open any lock of enlightenment. I believe the "key" is a journey of awearness and an ability to open our minds, that should always be challenged by ourselves.
This inclined photograph may hint at a rise to a better thing for some. The downhill instead of being a slide to desperation maybe interpreted as a easy ride home?
Basic answer..............ignore the key, appreciate everything on the journey. A key only unlocks a door that has something else on the otherside!

Agree with everything that's gone before.Photography is a personal thing, whether creating or appreciating, an image can mean different things to different people.

As Andy says this perhaps links in with another thread about judging pictures.

I'm reminded of an old colleaguewhot used to use the analogy of a dog show in respect of photography. Each breed represented the different genres of photography and the supreme champion was the best of the bunch. However to reach the these dizzy heights the best of breed and the best in show had to conform to strict rules laid down by the Kennel Club, each marvellous to look at but each very much like its competitors. He used to finish by saying 'Give me a sprightly mongrel any day'.

When I find a photograph that catches and holds my attention it is because the photographer and subject have come together at a precise point to produce a unique moment in time. It's more than just a facsimile of what has passed by, but a living breathing moment in time that is frozen into our memories for ever. Whether this is intentional or by chance is neither here or there. These moments are like the ripples in a pond. They last just a few moments then are gone. To capture them at the right moment in photography is something of a rarity, because often we don't observe life hard enough, or the timing isn't right for us and we are not in the right place at the right time. When we are, and we have the shot in the bag, it gives us a special feeling of satisfaction. That's why photography is such a wonderful art form, if it can be called that, as our craft needs to make an instant impression on our senses if we are to get the shot we want. Unlike other art forms which can evolve over many weeks, months, or even years. It doesn't always need to be technically perfect as long as that special relationship between photographer's eye and subject matter have reached the point where words couldn't do it justice. Long live photography.

Quote from Don McCullin, my alltime photographic hero, at the opening of his exhibition at the Imperial War Museum North in Manchester.

[url]http://www.channel4.com/news/articles/arts_entertainment/don+mccullin+a+life+in+photography/3524842[/url]

"Photography for me is not looking, it's feeling. If you can't feel what you're looking at, then you're never going to get others to feel anything when they look at your pictures."

[url]http://north.iwm.org.uk/[/url]

"Photography for me is not looking, it's feeling. If you can't feel what you're looking at, then you're never going to get others to feel anything when they look at your pictures."

Nuff said!

The biggest kick I get out of photography is to be able to show others things they may never see, and present it in a way to the best of my abilities at the time.
Whether it is seen as art by the viewer is for their interpretation.To me I perhaps see it more as Photo Journalism.
Brett

what is photography?
The actual subject can an will be debated for a long long time.
But for me photography is a moment.A moment in time the Time the photo was taken, capture forever. That is what all photos have in common.For me its a memory of the moment.Some times I see a photo and think wow i wish i was there. You cant relive the moment but through the photo you can see the moment.my collection of old photos are not of any good quality for viewing.They are my memories captured in hard format.A story of my life that i can read and remember.They make me smile or cry.

Now and then i take a photo and think wow i want to share this and when someone see the photo they understand the feeling or emotion.But do they understand the photo or do they know me a little better

Photography (Φωτογραφία), means “writing with light”. Graphe (γραφή) is writing and phos (φως) is light. Photography is physics, it’s optics, it’s light, it is writing with the use of light. So, if someone is writing, someone should read. As the great photographer Mr. Steve Bloom has already mentioned “A photograph without an audience has no real value”. Here, I will also agree with the comments of Andy, digitalvirgin, ABERS, KeithT, PolaroidSky, m1cdq and especially with Brett from Australia. Therefore the second important, tricky question, in order to read a photograph is, what is or who is the photographer?