As I read The Photograph, I really found myself quite perplexed about every three lines or so. I had to read, and re read, and read again a handful of times but I feel like I finally got a pretty good handle on what was trying to be brought to our attention.

If I understood correctly, the author explains that most people look at a photograph and think its only purpose is to capture the world or the state of the world that it was at when the picture was taken. What I think the author was trying to say is that we have to ask ourselves deeper questions when we are observing a photograph.

My response to everything that I have read feels more confused than anything but I understood it to be telling us that as observers we should be embarking on a philosophical journey when we are studying a photograph. We need to realize that it is more than just color or contrast; these photographs are saying something that we need to dissect. Where I got ridiculously confused is where the author began to talk about the camera lying to us when it shows the green of the field where as if we were to see the same picture in black and white the green of the field would be more truthful because it is something we create within our own minds based on the tones and values of grey and black within the field, whereas the color photograph has this green field but the green color is not actually green but the camera’s concept of green…?

In conclusion I really think that I understand the big picture of what the author is trying to relay to us, I just feel like I wish I had an interpreter with me to put the whole article in layman’s terms and cut out all of the examples and metaphors. As an artist I have found myself being much more compelled by black and white photos than color ones whereas I used to feel the opposite. When looking at a black and white photo you almost feel like you stepped into a time machine and I notice myself guessing what color everything was and feeling more satisfied by that entire process than I feel looking at a brightly colored photograph.