Part of the reading we have completed was How Do We Read a Photograph by Graham Clarke. In chapter 2 he describes how we “engage in a series of complex readings” when we look at an image, in such a way that the image becomes a text. An image includes many meanings and relationships between the reader and the image with a “photographic discourse” giving an image/text its own grammar and syntax.
Photographs are full of “ideological context”, giving us information on time, place, and culture, among other features. Images can therefore construct meaning, acting as a mirror both to the world from the time and place of the photograph as well as a mirror to the world we are in, as we bring our own interpretation to the photographer’s intended text.
This closely relates to Stuart Hall’s encoding and decoding theory. An artist has an intended meaning behind their text. As an audience, we can accept or choose to have this intended reading. We can also have an oppositional reading, where we oppose the intentions of the artist, for example if the text is offensive, or if our own interpretation is too far from the original meaning. Additionally, an audience can have a negotiated reading. This is where we form an interpretation which is a balance between the intended and oppositional reading, having the ability to see it from both sides and accept multiple meanings, which is often the case for polysemic texts.
Readings from a photograph can come from both its connotations (obvious surface level meaning) and its denotations (deeper meaning). We can read these connotations and denotations by looking at photographs through puntums and studiums, as coined by Barthes.
A studium suggests a “passive response to a photograph’s appeal”, simply seeing its connotations. In contrast, a punctum is described by Barthes as a “sting, speck, cut, little hole”, allowing us to view a photograph in closer detail. The punctum allows us to form a critical reading of a text, opening up an image to its deeper meanings, or its denotations.
This is very useful knowledge for my own project, as I can frame a photograph and include specific things to form an intended reading on my part to fit my themes and style.
JTR Photojournalism 