Review
This book is styled and structure as a classroom textbook and covers the crucial role of context and narrative in visual imagery. I must admit that before I read this book, I had a very oversimplified and vague understanding of ‘context’ and ‘narrative’ in photography. This book helped me understand and appreciate the most basic as well as nuanced aspects of ‘context’ and ‘narrative’ in a photograph. While I have read this book once, I do feel the need to re-read many sections of this book to fully grasp its content, and apply them to my day-to-day photography. A fair amount of its content is too basic yet necessary to make it comprehensive. The book is overall an excellent resource for budding photographers exploring these ideas for the first time, as well as experienced photographers seeking a refresher and chance to develop great body of work. What makes this book a must-read for all photographers is the amount of illustrations and apt references of the (photography) projects used in this book to explain the concepts and ideas. The book is divided into six chapters, namely- The Photograph, Subject, Audience, Narrative, Signs and Symbols and Text. Each chapter begins with a very well-written introduction giving a sense of what to expect in that chapter and ends with appropriate ‘Case Study’ to illustrate the point; ‘Exercises’ for you to practice the lessons, and a crisp ‘Summary’ to refresh what you learnt. I would strongly recommend you to read and re-read this book time and again, in order to question yourself why you are photographing at the first place (not writing about it or painting it) and if you have a clear answer then, consider what is your intention; what do you want to say.
My Review
Year of publication: 2011 (1st edition)
Publisher: AVA Publishing SA, Switzerland
Number of pages to read: 169
Customer Reviews: 4.7/5 (Amazon); 3.83/5 (Goodreads)
Why read this book?
- widely adopted as a textbook in numerous photography courses.
- offers a succinct yet comprehensive exploration of context and narrative across various genres and styles of photography.
- compels you to think about the intent and purpose of your photographs in very structured and methodological ways.
- quite insightful for photographers interested in developing a body of work and creating photography series and projects.
- encourages you to think out of the box and pay attention to often overlooked ideas, subjects and concepts.
- is not laden with complex theories but also explains each concepts with thoughtfully picked illustrations and case studies.
Featured Photographers: Berenice Abbott; Eve Arnold; Tina Barney; Robert Capa; Henri Cartier-Bresson; Jill Cole; Gregory Crewdson; Paul Fusco; Stuart Griffiths; Britta Jaschinski; Seba Kurtis; Jem Southam; Tom Stoddart; Newsha Tavakolian and Weegee.
Sample Pages on Google Books here
About the Author
Maria Short (born 1969) is a photographer, writer, and Senior Lecturer in Photography at the University of Brighton. She holds a BA (hons) in Editorial Photography (1995) and an MA in Sequential Design (1997). Short’s work focuses on photographic portraits of domestic animals and the visual representation of the human-animal relationship. At the University of Brighton, her teaching practice has evolved and expanded, now encompassing photography instruction across three undergraduate courses. Her blend of teaching and poetic perspectives is complemented by a keen professional grasp of her craft. Read more about Maria Short here.
Function of a Photograph
A photographer should be consciously aware of the functions of photograph. It can be: (i) literal depiction of appearances (e.g., crime scene, news reporting); (ii) conveying character or circumstances (e.g., family photographs); (iii) telling stories (whether truth or fiction); (iv) social commentary; (v) creating altered realities.
The only factually correct aspect of photography is that it shows what something looked like under a very particular set of circumstances. But that is not the same as the underlying truth of the event or situation.
– David Hurn (Magnum Photographer)
Photographic Brief
A photographer should begin a project with a clear photographic brief. It can be: (i) student brief; (ii) professional brief, or (iii) self-directed brief. However, balancing brief and subject is also important to reach desired outcome.
Photojournalism
In documentary or photojournalism, photographers must engage with their subjects, uphold responsibility towards their assignment, subjects, and audience, and navigate ethical considerations in their work.
Audience
Viewer’s response will depend not only on the way in which you have used the equipment and materials but also their pre-existing expectations about them.
Practical Tips
- Practice verbalizing your ideas and writing it down to organize your thoughts.
- Set aside time to research your ideas.
- Consider communicating your intention by referring to, implying or photographing around the subject.
- Ask how important is location, time of day, quality of light, equipment and materials in relation to the concept.
- Try to clarify your intention into a simple sentence or several key phrases and examine your photograph in relation to your intention statement or phrases. Consider whether your intention needs further clarification.
I believe that, through the act of living, the discovery of oneself is made concurrently with the discovery of the world around us, which can mould us, but which can also be affected by us. A balance must be established between these two worlds – the one inside us and the outside us. As the result of a constant reciprocal process, both these worlds come to form a single one. And it is the world that we must communicate.
– Henri Cartier-Bresson
- Your own beliefs, sense of integrity, intuition, personal qualities and technical skills will all influence the rationale and concept of your work – what you photograph, how and why.
- Your personal connection and interaction with the subject is as meaningful as the photograph.
- Your intention affects the flavor of the photograph and enables the viewer to trust the authenticity of the story in your photograph.
- A photographer must be responsible to himself if he is to maintain his integrity. Seek an audience which will accept your vision, rather than perverting your vision to fit an audience.
- Being too prescriptive, spending hours looking for an exact image, can mean that you overlook hundreds of other possible images. It is, therefore, important to be flexible with how one’s intention can be manifested visually and develop a sense of openness towards the subject.
- Challenge yourself to get to your own truth. Other people’s truths are easier to get to. Dig into what you have photographed your own version of reality.
You must feel an affinity for what you are photographing. You must be part of it, and yet remain sufficiently detached to see it objectively. Like watching from the audience a play you already know by heart.
– George Rodger
Concept and Meaning in a Photograph
- Your work has to be conceptual, but only to a point. It should not become so exclusive that it is only understood by very few people expert in the Arts.
- You need to produce striking images to grab the attention first but once you have the attention, it is time for the meaning of the work to come through. There has to be a balance of aesthetic and concept/meaning.
- Hold in mind your conceptual intention and look for new ways in which it can be visualized.
- If you wish to convey a sense of ‘x’ in your photograph, clarify in words what ‘x’ is and then examine the photograph asking if each component is contributing to the conveying ‘x’.
Working on Photography Projects and Series
- Give yourself time to develop an idea through practice. Ideas can change and evolve in a whole host of unimagined ways.
- It is important to maintain a strong level of visual continuity (e.g., lighting, color, tonal range, lens) between each image for them to be easy on the eye.
- Size, shape and ordering of images affects how a series of images relate to each other or highlight the significance of a single image.
Presentation of a Photograph
- Juxtaposing different or contrasting (conceptual) images can help present an argument or raise questions.
- Important to ask whether the presentation of the photograph, echoes, informs or works as part of the concept.
Signs and Symbols in a Photograph
- A ‘signifier’ means the form which the sign takes and the ‘signified’ means the concept it represents.
- A symbol is something that represents something else, meaning the signifier will not resemble the signified. The relationship between signifier and signified, therefore, must be learnt.
- An indexical signifier is physically or casually linked to the signified, e.g., smoke indicating fire or heat. Pay attention to this indexicality in a photograph.
- Signs and symbols are integral aspect of the structure and language of images. They can be significant within single image or provide a link in terms of overall visual language between images.
Use of Text
- Captions, titles, essays and accompanying editorial text helps the audience place an image and thus affects the context in which an image is seen.
- Ask yourself, are the images required to illustrate the text or can they stand independently from the text.
- Adding text (explanatory sentence) may help the audience understand the photograph in a way that adds to the picture rather than negating or reducing the power of the image.
- Consider making use of text appearing in the photographs themselves.
Context
Context can be defined by-
– the function of the photograph;
– the placing of the photograph;
– the relationship between the photograph and other photographs in the same series/body of work;
– use of text;
– external factors like, topicality; geographical placing, cultural understandings, experiences and expectation the audience bring to the photograph.
Narrative
– Narrative gives the audience a thread to follow or a concept to grasp.
– While narrative generally has a beginning, middle and end, photographic narrative need not follow this structure.
– Narrative may be a fictional interpretation of a given person, place, event or moment.
– Narrative within a single image can be drawn from various components of the photograph and the dynamics and/or tension between them.
– Breaking down these components can help you think about what you are showing your audience, how and why.
Resources (Films to watch)
La Jetée (1962) by Chris Marker for narrative techniques.
Vanilla Sky (2001) by Cameron Crowe to appreciate how images are used to build memory and convey notions of happiness.
The Parallax View (1974) by Alan J. Pakula to appreciate the use of text, sound, sequencing and shuffling of images in relation to the text.
Creative Genes 