Assignment 2
Reading questions for Barrett Chapter 2

1a
Description is factual and observable information about a photograph. One must record this information textually or share it verbally. Accuracy of description is very important.

1b
Subject is more interpretive, the theme or meaning of a photo - what the photo is about. Subject matter is what is actually depicted in the photograph. Describing subject matter is describing and "typifying" the  places, people, and things, and events in a photo.

1c
Form refers to how the photo is actually composed. Form can be described according to formal elements, some specific to photography and some used for all art such as line, shape, color, texture, space etc.

1d
Medium is what the photo is made of and how it is made. Medium influences how the photo looks and is important in the context of the photo.

1e
Style refers to similarities between works of a specific photographer, artist, movement, time, or place.

2a
Compare and contrast is a typical way of analyzing a photographers work. It can be compared and contrasted to the photographers own work or work by others, both photographic and not.

2b
Internal information comes from inside the photograph - observing what can be seen. External information comes from further outside research - in books and publications about context and/or the artist themselves.

3a
One must describe to interpret and interpret to describe. It's impossible interpret a photograph without description, as it is basically impossible to describe the parts without interpreting the whole. One must see the elements in terms of the whole and the whole includes all the elements.

3b
Description can be influenced by the critic's evaluation of the image. If the critic wishes to favorably evaluate a photograph, they will describe it using favorable language, and the same but opposite if critical.

I actually learned a lot from this reading, especially details I didn't know were missing. Even though I already had a basic understand of most of the terms and subjects covered, the reading organized the information and went in to detailed description with examples. It's helpful (and more interesting) to be able to categorize the ways I take in a photograph, or any piece of visual art. I was especially interested to find the difference between subject and subject matter. Barrett was trying to convey to the reader first of all the basic things to look at, and the things that any critic would take in to account. He shows with examples how the vocabulary is used to talk about an image. This new information will also inform how I take photographs (and make art) because I will think about these different critical and descriptive categories.