Wednesday, March 26, 2014

Summary " A viewers guide to Looking at Photography"


This reading went into great detail on all the different aspects to be considered while reviewing and analyzing a photograph. The first discussed and most important was description. The description forces you to come to conclusions about the photograph and serves as a foundation. The description should also carry no adjectives or adverbs, just facts. A checklist is provided in each chapter of certain things to analyze and discuss with yourself while analyzing an image. In the checklist for description some things mentioned were the frame, textures, perspective, motion, mood, lights and shadows, etc…  In Chapter five the formal analysis is discussed. This checklist includes geometry, parallels repetions and rhythms, themes and variations, contrasts, compositions, balance and unity, etc…  Chapter five is digging a little deeper than the description step in chapter four. Chapter six and seven are about interpretation and evaluation. During the Interpretation stage the analysis goal is to determine what the photograph has to say. You take into account specific or universal, symbolism, manner of statement, feelings, metaphor, and more. During the evaluation step is where most viewers start judging a photograph. One evaluation is aimed at the picture on its own ground and the other is a judgment based on the broader ground of photography in general. 

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