Week 2: Reading Overview

The History of the Photograph, An Interpretation of Clarke's "The Photograph"

In this weeks reading, Graham Clarke explained and wrote about the history of the Photograph. I've noted down some brief ideas and theories that stood out to me in the reading.

Clarke believed that interpreting an image is a passive act. He argued that our interpretations of images is due to a  collection of meaning and relationships. We interpret these meanings through a 'photographic discourse'. Photographic discourse is a term that suggests spectators decode and interpret what they think the photograph they are spectating is about. This can be influenced by little things such as the colour of clothes people wear, the environment the subject is in, facial expression, body language etc.

Clarke later argues that photographers create their work under by incorporating elements such as: imposing and recreating the scene depending on  their cultural background or discourse.

Clarke explains that "denotation is what is taken, connotation is how it is taken" in relation to composing and engineering photographs for a desired meaning.