What do you see when you look at a photograph?

Simple question.

How you answer it may reveal what you find important in imagery.

I was once in a gallery at a large Arizona University. We were looking at a show of a photographer who had just completed his Master’s Degree and this was the work that was the culmination of his study there.

I looked at 8”x8” prints of lawns and sidewalks with pieces of string strewn about on the ground. There was a photograph of a piece of string on a sidewalk. It was entitled; “Piece of String on Sidewalk: facing North.” I remember that title to this day. I remember that image to this day. I am guessing you know why…

I was supposed to be seeing some sort of transformational images dealing with self-discovery and the impact of the fracturing of our social system has had on the malnourished children of teen age parenting or some such bullshit. There was a huge three sheet “artist statement” that I briefly skimmed over before going to look at the images. I was supposed to read the whole thing, I guess. My bad.

I saw a piece of string. On the ground.

A few prints down, that same piece of string was on a well manicured lawn. I am sure it was the same piece of string and I wondered how it had migrated from the sidewalk to the lawn and if that social injustice had somehow pushed it there. I was shocked to find that the title of this piece was “Twine on Lawn: facing South”. I was reasonably certain that it was the same piece of string from the first image, but here it was called ‘twine’.

I wondered about the importance of the name change. Was it the destruction of the nuclear family or the inherent racism of large industrial complexes that had forced the string to change to twine… I will never know, I didn’t read the damn artist statement that would have clarified it all.

In front of me, there were two obvious photography students. They were intently going from one print to the next and chatting in hushed tones. As I drew closer I heard their comments: “Yeah, this is definitely his Rollei, you can see how the grain looks in the highlights.”

Well, hell… who knew. I was supposed to be looking at grain structure in the highlights for a clue as to what kind of camera was used to make the totally insipid crap photos that had earned some kid his masters degree.

Sure as hell made more sense than trying to find anything of value in square prints of string on the ground.

As I was leaving there was a very dapper older woman with a over-sized purse and lots of piled up hair (hey, it was the 80’s, so cut her some slack). She was gushing to another woman over the images that were on display. “I am so glad he is out of school. This is the final part of his masters… I know he will be coming back to …”

I was out the door and heading for the motorcycle by that time. I had come all the way across town to see this show, and what I saw was not what others saw. Not by a long shot. Mom saw an end to the master’s degree. Other photography students saw grain structure and camera choice, and I saw a huge effort to present a pile of excrement as art. I can only imagine how anyone willing to hire him would have received shots of string on the ground. Still life? Nawwww.

I do not know what you would have seen. I don’t even know what the other people saw who were in attendance… it was kind of a hushed audience moving respectfully through the thirty or so pieces of string on the ground with directional titles hanging with authority in over-sized mounts on white walls in a place of ‘higher learning’.

I had to get back to the studio to shoot photographs of some Phoenix Suns.

Now think of a photograph. It is a photograph of two people embracing. One is smiling and the other obviously laughing. It is in color and the two people are dressed up. What does that picture represent to those who view it?

Most will see nothing more than a snapshot. Two older people caught in a split second of time and really of no importance. It is neither compositionally exciting, nor does it have any cool post processing effects. The people aren’t famous, and it wasn’t shot by anyone famous either.

It is, in short, a snapshot. Not unlike the millions of snapshots taken each and every day by people wanting to capture a moment. It will never hang in a gallery or be included in a show.

But I love it. It is my mom and dad, and they are smiling together. Rare, and rarer still that they are hugging and laughing. And I caught it. Snap. Mine. Forever.

What was intrinsic in the photograph was unknown to any other viewers, and so they bring their parameters and expectations to the image. Some may want to actually check the grain structure for any hint of Leica…

So we get into a discussion of art in photography and we start to run smack dab into what the viewer is bringing to the experience. Because what the viewer brings to the experience is so much more than the image itself in so many cases.

If I described for you a wall with 300 snapshots taped to it. Smiling people caught in all kinds of normal activity… washing the car, doing their daughters hair, school snapshots, business portraits, holding their dog or cat… simple pictures from real life stuck to the wall. Absolutely nothing about the wall or the images themselves is more than mundane.

Now I tell you that that photograph made me cry. It still does.

It is a wall of the ‘missing’ after September 11, 2001.

Can you look at the image again in the same way? Ever?

We bring context to the images… the context of loss and terror and the realization that all those smiling people doing ordinary things are no longer with us.

One more – imagine this image with me…

A woman in a swimsuit, obviously back in time: maybe the sixties. She is smiling on the edge of the pool and looking straight at the camera. Now hold that image for a few seconds before moving on to the next paragraph.

Viewer A sees a hot chick in a swimsuit.
Viewer B sees a photograph of a famous actress in her youth.
Viewer C sees a photograph of a woman that was his wife taken right after she was told she had a part in a major picture
Viewer D remembers when dad took that picture of his mom, the famous actress
Viewer E sees a historical shot of a young up and coming actress before she won the Academy Award
Viewer F sees a mean and arrogant woman who treated her badly when she was a script girl
Viewer G sees a very cool retro look that she may try on a model she is doing makeup on later this week
Viewer H sees a decadence that is forbidden in his country and hates what it stands for

Same picture… so many ways to see it.

What did you see before I gave the examples.

The context of the viewer over-rides the image itself, which is a lovely portrait of a woman just before she became a world famous star.

Is that important to the worth, or value we place on the image.

After all, there are about a gazillion shots of girls in swimsuits. About a half a gazillion are uploaded to Flickr every day.

Many of those are technically better, and many have ‘better’ lighting and maybe even cuter girls…

But this picture is of someone we all knew. We have a history with the subject, not the photographer. Does that matter? Shouldn’t a photograph live on its own merits, without a ‘backstory’? You will have to answer that for yourself.

I can tell you that an image is an image. Photographers can work their magic with the composition, and processing and all the aesthetic stylistic affect possible, and the viewer still has to bring something to the table.

But we continue to try. We do. We want that experience we felt to be transferred over somehow. We hope and long for images that tell our story and invite the viewer in to present a little of theirs. We strive for context. Elusive, adaptive, hidden in plain site context.

So tell me – what do YOU see in these five photos?


Photo by Bruce Barnbaum


Photo by Garry Winogrand


Photo by Helmut Newton


Photo by Ansel Adams


Photo by Stephen Shore

There are no right or wrong answers. These are all famous and well respected photographers and these are some of my favorite images. Take some time to really see them and then think about what you expected from the image.

Was it what the image promised or did you bring that expectation with you?

I think it is fun and enlightening to look at and see photographs. Take every opportunity you can to look at photography, ask yourself what you see. And look for the context for the image. You may be surprised what you see and take away.

As always, I am available on Twitter, at my Facebook Page, and I do lighting workshops all over the country. Find out more at Learn to Light. I am off to Florida… watch for a live broadcast from somewhere in Florida Monday. See the LE Live page for more info.

Print Friendly, PDF & Email