The Methodology of Context in Photography

Among so many other mediums, it is of particular interest to note that the practice of photography is not simply bound to one side of the spectrum of creative expression. As much as it can be perceived as an emotional piece of art, a photo can also very well be seen as a showcase of the current social world through an objective lens. What it is that truly defines a photo as being either an artistic endeavor or a means for documentation, however, is the context in which it is meant to be viewed by a particular audience. One single picture, after all, could appear drastically different alongside an article in a newspaper than it would if it were to be framed and hung alongside other photos on a museum wall. This idea is especially prevalent in the pieces shown in the exhibition Freedom Now! Forgotten Photographs of the Civil Rights Struggle, wherein several photos are both seen as a standalone piece, as well as how they appeared in magazines or journals on the Civil Rights movement. Through comparing and contrasting several sets of these pictures, each displaying two vastly different ways in which they can be observed, the importance of context in regards to photography comes into full view, giving a larger perspective on what it is that gives a specific piece a certain meaning.

Given the subject matter of the aforementioned exhibition, it is best to first analyze one of the more provocative of the included pieces, as it is, interestingly enough, used as a means to garner sympathy for both sides of the Civil Rights movement depending on the type of context surrounding it. The photograph itself, captured by Charles Moore and subsequently titled as Firemen use High-Pressure Hoses against Protestors, depicts a powerful scene amidst of ...

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...ceived as is, without any outside influence making the viewer observe something they otherwise would not have considered. Thus, the application of context from other sources than the photographer often times muddles the original meaning that had been intended from the beginning. Of course, it is how the context is applied that makes all the difference, as on one hand, it can be used to in a way to contort a photograph’s meaning entirely through the use of text and captions that are meant to give the viewer and inaccurate perception of the image. Nevertheless, it can also be used to simply provide a better understanding of what the photo is depicting, thus providing not a different meaning, but a clearer one. Either way, it is the context that ultimately tells the viewer how to interpret a specific photograph, regardless of how it was actually meant to be perceived.