Leica M6 – Ilford HP5 – Rodinal 1:50
I’ve not gone to a gallery in a while. However, when I do, one of the first things that I try to do is look at the photographs and get a sense of what they might mean to me personally, if anything.
The same goes for visiting blogs that include both text and images. I like to look at the image first, to see how I see, with all of my personal baggage, beliefs, etc. Then, if the photo is associated with the text in anyway, get an additional bit of context to lend even more meaning to the photo.
In response to Saturday’s post, Exploring Something New, Juha said:
For some reason, I was so fixated on looking at the bench that I didn’t see the background (and the mill) at all, until I read your posting. Strange how this image works, now it seems to be very different from the first impression.
In that photo, before reading my words, that bench held some significance for him; however, after reading my words, it resulted in a change of perception. I find that very interesting how that can happen. We can use words to change perception and focus (no pun intended) on what is important.
I think that it would be a very interesting thing to hang a set of photos, say 10 or 12, include no captions, or context of any type, and survey some number of individuals from different countries, walks of life, etc, to see what they got out of it. It would be similar, I imagine, to our futile efforts in high school English Literature class where we had to read a story or a poem and try to ‘understand’ what the author was really trying to say.
In a way, a photo without a caption or text is a lot like a Rorschach inkblot test, except in the case of a photograph, we know what the items are; that is clear, but the underlying understanding or meaning, is very subjective and dependent upon the psyche of the individual.
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