How Do We Read A Photograph? - Graham Clarke

How Do We Read A Photograph? 

In chapter two of Graham Clarke's book The Photograph, he discusses the readings of photographs and how photographers lead viewers to engage in the readings of their photographs. Clarke states that "we read a photograph, not as an image but as a text" and this portrays that photographs create meanings and relationships between the reading and the image. Clarke introduces the idea of photographic discourse and this is described as 'a language of codes which involves its own grammar and syntax, which has its own conventions and histories'. It is a way of questioning if the photograph is part of a larger language of meaning and has different meanings that can be interpreted by different viewers.

Victor Burgin explains photographic discourse as: "The intelligibility of the photograph is no simple thing; photographs are texts inscribed in terms of what we may call 'photographic discourse', but this discourse, like any other, engages discourses beyond itself, the 'photographic text', like any other, is the site of a complex intertextuality, an overlapping series of previous texts 'taken for granted' at a particular cultural and historical conjuncture." The photographer encodes the terms by reference by which we shape and understand the image; images can mean different things to different viewers. 

This image is titled Identical Twins and was taken by Diane Arbus in 1967. This image is an example of photographic discourse as it has many different meanings that can be interpreted through a simple image that gives little social or historical context due to the plain white background that neutralises the existence of the 'characters'. 

This image suggests that each twin is a reflection of each other as 'identical' infers 'identity', however the amount of elements of the image that seems similar, they are equally different. There are differences in the twins facial expression as one looks a lot happier and the other looks sadder. There are also differences in the hight of the twins, as well as the positioning of their dress colars and the dress pleats are in different places. 

Roland Barthes argues the theory of denotations and connotations, which create the important distinction between the relative meanings of different elements within the frame. The denotation is the literal meaning and viewers observation of the image, such as the positioning of an object. On the other hand, the connotation is what can be interpreted from this by the viewers of the image.

This image was taken by Lee Friedlander and taken in 1969, it is titled Route 9W New York.

Friedlander's images are deliberately difficult to read and this is done to make it as part of a larger critical process. He photographs series of random events and images which do not make sense together once questions and thought about by active viewers. The image purposely distorts the world, and the reflection of the photographer in the car wing mirror portrays a self reflective term of reference and creates a symbolic presence. The image has been broken up into a series of different directions perceptions and meanings and this makes it interesting for the viewer to look at as they will interpret these in different ways.

To conclude, Clarke believes that the meaning and practice of photography takes place within its own series of codes and frames of reference. Active viewers interpret the meanings of the readings within photographs in different ways and the decode denotations and connotations that may or may not have been encoded by the photographer. 

Inspirational Images 1

First Inspirational Images

"Produce a photographic essay consisting of 6 to 8 digital photographs that represent an individual, group or location of your choice. Your project should investigate ideas of representation and identity, and consider the importance of cultural, social or political positions. Your chosen theme must be presented for acceptance by your tutor." - Brief 

Looking at the brief for the project, I have started to research into photographers work that I find inspirational. 

John Stezaker

This image is from a series by Stezaker titled 'Landscapes' and it is a photomontage that displays a portrait of a female that is in back and white, with a saturated image of a landscape in the foreground that is covering the models eyes. My favourite thing about his image is the brightness of the landscape image as the saturated blue tones contrast against the black and white portrait. The fact that the postcard is positioned covering the models eyes suggests a link to the theme of identity and is as if she is hiding her identity from the viewers of the photograph. The surrealism in the image has been created through manipulation of two photographs, although simple it is very effective. This image could also suggest representation of a location as the landscape postcard in the foreground displays a country with a hot climate. If I were to experiment similar ideas with my own work I would both take landscape images of Brighton and use postcards of the city scanned into Photoshop. I would then take portrait images to use in the background. I could also link the images to social positions by using portraits of people in the city of Brighton to represent both their personalities and the city they are from in one image. 

This next image by Stezaker displays an image of a model who is looking directly into the camera lens, however her eyes have been manipulated as they have been cut in half and full ones inserted in the centre. This give the illusion that different part of her eyes are in different places and distorts the idea that her gaze into the camera lens is simply about identity. The eyes having been cut up could connote that the 'character' in the image is crying for help to the viewer. This gives a slightly uncomfortable feel as you look deeper into the image, however I love the surrealism that has been created by the simple manipulation. If I were to recreate this image I would use photoshop to move around the models facial features subtly to create a small change to the face. This changes one feature of the models appearance, which effects the identity that is represented to the viewer. 

Serge Mendzhiyskogo

Mendzhiyskogo is a Russian based photographer who constructs unique and abstract cityscapes by taking hundreds of different photographs of a city and then splices and reforms them in an offset way.  This technique makes the images look very busy and I love this effect as it makes the images look almost like a painting. This image of London makes the buildings look closer together and has a beautiful effect on the River Thames. I find this image inspirational as it represents the 

already urban city look even busier in a beautiful way. It also gives the impression that the people within the city are very hidden as only a few can be seen in the image and this juxtaposes with the busyness of the buildings. I could try a similar technique with images of different cities I am able to visit to suggest a different representation to the audience in each image. 

Experimenting

Experimenting

Today I explored the basic features of the Nikon D7000 by taking images of subjects around me; these are my three favourite images that I took...

This first image is a portrait of a model who is looking directly into the camera lens as she is leaning on a brick wall in the background. In the foreground of this image some of the models hair falls in front of her face and this suggests that the image was taken in nature conditions outside as the wind took part in the positioning. The models facial expressions also look slightly dazed and this could have connotations of identity and looking for ones self-identity. My favourite thing about this image is the colouring of the models red hair with the bricks in the background as aesthetically this works very well together and the colours almost blend together, making the image look quite natural. 

This next image demonstrates my other favourite style of photography, which is the use of an extreme shallow depth of field. I used the manual focus to achieve the effect of the tree in the foreground to be in focus as this creates a focal point for the viewer. The out of focus flowers in the background of the image appear slightly distorted and I love this effect as all the bright colours really stand out and draws the viewers attention to the rest of the image. If I were to retake this image I would position the camera differently in order for the flowers to be evenly distributed in the background as in this image they look slightly cramped in the bottom left hand corner. 

This is my final favourite image from this experiment and I have chosen this as I like the strong focus - caused by the shallow depth of field - on the centre of the flower as the viewer is able to see the detail inside the flower. I love the brightness of the pink colour of the outside of the flower as this creates a strong contrast with both the bright white centre of the flower and the darkness around the outside of the image. I believe that these three images have shown how I have explored techniques using a DSLR camera, as well as showing my two favourite styles of photography. 

These are my three least favourite images from this experiment...

These three images are my least favourite due to the lack of sharp colours and contrasts that usually draw my attention to photographs. In the first and second image in particular, the objects photographed are very neutral and don't have a lot for the viewer to focus on. I like the colours of the flowers in the last image, however the focus is not right as there is no strong shallow depth of field, however sections are still slightly out of focus.