The Nature of Photographs
The Nature of Photographs
The Nature of Photographs
The Nature
of Photographs
By Stephen Shore
A Primer
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A photograph can be viewed on several Dieter AppeLt
] evels. To begin with, it is a physical The Mark on the Mirror
object, a print. 0n this print is an Thal Breathin8 Makes
image, an illusion of a window on to the !,97 7
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The Physica1 Levet | 25
Anonymous
As an object, a photograph has its
old man v/ ltn apples
own life in the world. I t can be saved
in a shoebox or in a museum. I t can 'rr" "* ""-"
be reproduced as information or as
an advertisement. I t can be bought and
sold.. I t may be regarded as a utilitarian
object or as a work of art. The context
in which a photograph is seen effects
the meaní ngs a viewer draws í rom it,
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sl] ooting
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Goethestrasse L972 L9B6
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The Physica1 Level óó
By consciously adopting a visual style, Wa] ker Evans
a photographer can reference this B-d, o- an| fa rn ho .so
Lisa kereszi
Burger King, Governor's
I sland, New York
2aa3
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'Walker Evans
The photographic image depicts, within
\ 4ining Town,
certain ť ormal constrairrts, an aspect
West Virginia
oí the world. This photograph by Evans
!.936
depicts a store, gas pumps ) a car, a road,
hit] s and houses, sky. Tt also depicts
receding space.
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the surface into the illusion
lh e image.
FLatness
46 l The Depictive Level:
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Zeke Berman
Domestic Still Life
Ari and Entropy
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'M/ hile
we know that the buildings,
sidewalks, and sky continue beyond
the edges of this urban landscape, the
world of the photograph is contained.
within the frame. Tt is not a fragment
of a larger wor] d.
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Japanese woodblock prints use the Toyokrrni I I I (Kunisada)
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Untit] ed, Spain, 19BB
(coins on she} f)
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Richard prince
Untit] ed (Cowboys 4)
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Richard prince
Untitled (Cowbov t
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The Depictive Level: Tirne 7J
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or two SeCondS ... Lí nda connor
SLeeping Baby,
Extrusive time: the movement occurring Kathmandu, Nepa] , 19B0
in front of the camera, or movement
of the camera itself, accurnulating on
the film, producing a blur.
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Zuma Beach, Ca"] ifornia
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Focus is the fourth major transformation P. H. Emerson
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Robert Ada"ms
Examine this photograph by Robert
outdoor Theater and
Adams. Move your attention frorn the
Cheyenne Mountain
bottom edge, back through the parking
L968
lot, to the movie screen. From the screen,
move your attention to the mountain
to its right and from there to the sky,
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The Depiclive Levei: Focus I B7
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The Depictive Leve] : Focus ] 89
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Anonymous
Prrhli eilv still í 'rom
(Docks oť New Or] eans',
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as charLie chan
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Aclion pholo
(After Hans Namuth)
1997
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Guido Guidi
....- Nord.
Rimini 1991
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Paul Caponigro
Death Va] ] ey,
Caliť orniar 1975
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The
Mental
Leve1
You see a mental image pictures exist on a mental ] evel that
- a mental
construction when you read this page, may be coincident with the depictive
or look at a photograph, or see anything level - what the picture is showing -
else in the world. your focus even shifts but does not rnirror it. The mental
when reading this picture by Paul ] evel elaborates, refines, and
Caponigro. But your eyes don't actually embellishes our perceptions of the
refocus (since you are only looking at a depictive level. The mental ] evel of
ť lat page). Tt is your mind that changes a photograph provides a frarnework
focus within your mental image of the for the menta] image we construct
picture, with all the attendant sensations oť (and for) the picture.
of refocusing your eyes. I t is your menta1
focus that is shifting.
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Thomas Annan
While the mental level is separate í rom 6l Saltmarkei
CLose, No.
the d.epictive level, it is honed by formal
LB6B-7 7
decisions on that level: choice of vantage
point (where exactly to take the picture
from), í rame (what exactly to include),
time (when exactly to release the shutter),
and- focus (what exactly to emphasize
with the plane of focus), By focusing
on the black void at the end of this
impossibly narrow ally, Thomas Annan
draws our mental focus through the
confined space of the image, Focus s the
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A photograph may have deep depictive Wí lliam H. Be] 1
space but shallow space on the mental caňon of kanab wash
level - in which there is little sensation Colorado River,
of your eye changing focus. Looking Soulh
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The Mental Level 1O5
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A photograph may have a relatively PauL Caponigro
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The Menlal
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'WaLker
I n this Walker Evans photograph Evans
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Garry Vlinogrand
The crystallí ne clarity of Garry WorLd's Fair,
Winogrand,'s awareness of a photograph New York City, 1o64
cutting through motion and time makes
this image oí people interacting on
a bench absolutely riveting, The
quality
and intensity of a photographer's
attention leave their imprint on the
mental level oí the photograph, This
does not happen by magic,
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The Menta] Level ] 111
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Gustave Le Gray
The Beech Tree
c. LB56
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WiLLiam Eggleston
Unlitled
c. !,97 0
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Alfred Slieglitz
Poplars, Lake George,
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Menta1
ModelI ing
The mental levelrs genesis is in the Earlier r suggested that you become
photographerrs menta1 organization aware of the space between you and
of the photograph. V/ hen photographers the page in this book. That caused arL
take pictures, they hold mentar rno.le] s alteration oť your mental model. You can
in their mí nds; models that are tre :es:l,| add to this awareness by being mindful,
oť the proddings of insight, conci,_cll_ng, r_ghi now, of yourself sitting in your
and comprehens,i on of th- wor_c. :h:._::, its back pressing against your
s1-1e. To this you can add an awarelless
At one extreme, the model is rig_i a:_l ci:le sounds in your room. And a] l the
ossified, bound by an accumui:_tiol oj _:s -.= :_le, as you] ] awa] ] eness is shifting and
conditioning: a photographer recog.__z:s lleriia] model is metamorphosing,
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only subjects that fit the mod.eL, o:l :eading this book, seeing these
;-] - :,r] e
structures pictures only in acco:lCar_c: -.-.-_] ] ] ;-
- -,ar3"3- t".ordS, which are only
with the model. A rudimentary ex:,:1_1_- _:_'l.- ::_ tapel, the ink depicting a series
of this is a mental ť ilter that perr:_:s :i i,_:_:l;,- __t.ie symbols whose meaning
only sunsets to pass through. At lre o:.,.: _s ::l_-,-:;ea cn the menlal leve] . And
extreme, the model is supple anC j_:_i. ,__ ::_: .,,;| --el as your framework of
readily accommodating and adjus:i::: -;.:ll-::stalClng shiť ts, you continue
to new perceptions. :c :::a j :.ld to contemplate the nature
:i l:l_c:cgraphs.
For most photographers, the mode,
operates unconsciously. But, by mak_l_g
the model conscious, the photoglap] ] er]
brings it and the mental level of ;he
photograph under his or her controi.
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Diane Arbus
Woman on a Pa,rk Bench
on a S.nnJ DaJ, N.V.n.,
L9 69
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I daT,o !-972
Modetling l 119
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Fazal Sheikh
Darmi Ha] ake GiLo,
SoloLo, Kenya, 1992 93
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Each level oí a photograph is determined Eugěne Atget
M^ . a, Vod^ L,'1g
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Jeff Wa} l
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Williarn Eggleston
Untitled
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Kenrreth Josephson
New york state
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Tim Davis
StiLL Life with Apples
2003
Photography, New York; R.M.N. @ Photo RMN/ O Diane Arbus LLC; !,L9
50 Courtesy Baudoin Adam Rzepka; 91 Courtesy FraenkeL
Lebon Keite] man; 5t O Copyrighl Judith Joy Ga"l1ery, San Francisco;
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I ndex of Artists
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