A Viewer's Guide to Looking at Photography Reflection

When analyzing a photograph there are 4 major points to make a clear and full analysis. Those four points are about the description, formal analysis, interpretation, and evaluation. All of them have their own important parts, although description is the most important. This is because sometimes photos only have description, where it is all about the form, so the other forms of analysis of the others don’t matter.  The main points of description are the objects in the picture, lines/planes/volumes/ tones, the frame, textures, perspective, motion, mood, space, lights and shadows, blur and fog, reality of photo, exotic appeal, time/place/locale, unknown aspects, color, and route of the eye. All about analyzing the content of the picture. Looking at all the details, this is the most time consuming part of analysis.  Formal analysis is the second part of a full photo analysis, and the parts of this are geometry, parallels/repetitions/rhythms, theme and variation, contrasts, composition, balance, unity, and value standards.  The third part is interpretation; the parts of interpretation are specific or universal, symbolism, manner of statement, feelings, the metaphor, the meaning, subject matter, and photographer’s viewpoint. Interpretation is all about finding of a photo, what it means to the viewer and to the photographer and what causes the meaning and the feelings or moods that are brought about by the context. The final part is the evaluation of the photo. There is not a set list of parts of evaluation because there is not a set standard. It is all about the judgment of the viewer.