A photo does not have to be unambiguous and it is often not necessary for a photo to be understood. But words are needed to say something about the photo. Text accompanying photos makes the viewing experience deeper, broader and more intense, and creates a bond through the image between maker, viewer and messenger.
How often does it happen to you that you want to say something about a photo and that you just can't get beyond 'beautiful'? If you are a photo teacher, editor, coach, jury member, gallery owner, reviewer or photographer, you need more words to explain your plan, your insight and why your choice is important.
By definition, photos exist within contexts, and the viewer is often implicitly very aware of meanings, and it is not the case that a photo cannot be understood without additional explanation. Explaining the influence of the context on the meaning, or considering how a photo can acquire its meaning within a different context, is where the maker and the viewer can be helped by the reviewer.
With this photo book you will learn to analyze photography in a few clear steps. With the overviews in this book you can easily identify the subject of the photo, unravel the visual elements, follow the maker's strategy and discover when and how photos are relevant to the audience.
You can consider the thousand-word list as a writing aid. You will want to memorize the nine questions from the visual elements as a guide for your public discussions.
The fact that photos change meaning when the context and medium change is no longer an obstacle after studying this book, but an enrichment of photography. You will notice that your audience will feel happier if you can explain the image to them.
Useful to know: after purchasing the book you also get free access to the web version.
Tom Meerman
Tom Meerman (Amsterdam 1959) is a photographer, mentor and writer. In the books The complexity of photographing and at lectures and mentorships he discusses those aspects of photographs where the question of why takes precedence over that of how.
From this book he developed the Six-Step Photo Analysis method, which he uses to help groups of photographers develop their discussion methods.
Focus on Photography: Analyzing and Discussing Photographs, 2nd Edition - Tom Meerman
Pages: 256
Price: € 39.99
Publisher: VanDuuren Media. Language: Dutch. This article refers to the Dutch-language edition.
