Tarby,+B+Wk+11

Malcolm’s idea of the “snapshot” is definitely the most prevalent idea in photography today. The snapshot can be simply taking a picture with any camera; whether it is a phone, computer, or digital camera. At first the snapshot was not very popular because of various reasons, but as technology increased, the snapshot took place of many photographs because of its ease of use. Also, Malcolm’s idea of “plucking photographs” and the “five characteristics” can be used in conjunction with Ramage’s interpretive relationships to help interpret a photo. Malcolm’s idea of plucking photographs is taking photographs from their familiar contexts as newspaper pictures, snapshots, or art photographs, and arranging them in such a way that five characteristics are exemplified: “The Thing Itself”, “The Detail”, “The Frame”, “Time”, and “Vantage Point”.

These characteristics can be used with Ramage’s interpretive relationships to interpret a photo. In this VSP, we are doing just what Malcolm says. I think that photographers know that they’re photos will be taken out of their familiar contexts and will be analyzed so they take their pictures accordingly. When plucking a photo out of its familiar context, you are essentially de-familiarizing yourself from the photo, which is another idea of Ramage. Seeing the image for what it is on its own can inhabit other ideas than what we would normally think if the image were in its context. When the image is in its context, there is pretty much no room for debate as to what is going on in the photo. This can be connected to Ramage’s relationship of “in terms of something else”. When we look at images in terms of other images, or in terms of different contexts, the valences of both are changed, causing some elements to stand out, and others to recede in importance (Ramage 153).

Also, when taking a photo out of its context, there can be more attention to detail. For example, if a photo was in a newspaper, one can’t exactly see everything that’s going on because of the low quality of newspaper photos. When taking the photo out of the newspaper, and perhaps seeing it direct from the photographer, more details can be seen, therefore giving way to deeper analysis. Using the detail we see when the photo is plucked out of its surroundings, we can give the photo a particular genre (Ramage 153) by virtue of shared traits with other similar photographs.

The “frame” of the photograph is similar to the thing itself, in that when taken out of context, there is room for analysis and speculation of what is going on around the photo and what took place before and after the photo was taken. This idea may be a focal point for my VSP. For example, one photo I am using is of a boy getting bullied at school. This photo by itself will leave the audience wondering how long the bullying has been taking place, why did the bully push the boy up against the locker, and what did the boy do after the incident? Another focal point may be Ramage’s idea of “in light of personal observation”. This has to do with relating photographs to other images to help understand the principle behind each photo. Each audience member has different experiences and has seen different things, so when a photograph is presented to an audience, each member can bring something different to the discussion, and all the ideas can be mashed into one.