Bob Walkden wrote:
> Ah, but was that the photographer's intention? If so then the picture
> was successful; if not then the picture has failed. Since we don't
> know what the photographer's intention or motives were we cannot say
> whether or not it is a successful picture.
>
Hi, Bob,
I must humbly disagree with you on that point! Firstly, the fact that a
photographer has chosen to display a photo, whether on PUG or in a gallery, or
whatever, tells me by inference that the photographer considers it a success - not
perfect perhaps, but certainly worthy of sharing with an audience. I need not
know the photographer's intention to draw that inference.
Secondly, the fact is that the viewer rarely knows the photographer's intention
when viewing a work. Does that mean that I can't ascertain subjectively whether
an image is successful or not? Does that mean that I can't glean a "story" from
an image without knowing that intention? Even if my "story" is inaccurate, does
that lessen the photo's impact on me (and thus it's value to me as viewer)?
Thirdly, some of the greatest and most influential images ever recorded were not
what they seemed. Margaret Bourke-White's "Breadline" comes to mind (I don't know
that that was the actual title). You most likely recall that was the image of a
line of Blacks, taken during the Depression, standing under a billboard that read
something to the effect: "America - The World's Highest Standard of Living". It
appeared to be a bread-line or a line for a soup kitchen. In fact, it was a
relief line for flood victims. None the less, it came to represent the Depression
and the disparity between the races in America (particularly the South) during the
depression.
Does knowing the true story lessen the impact of the image? I don't think so. Do
we need to know the intention of the photographer to decide whether the image was
successful? I don't think so either.
Hopefully, I haven't made a mountain out of a molehill!
regards,
frank
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