Project 4, Part 1: Research Point: Context as a Determinant of Photographic Meaning, Essay by John Walker

Research Point: Read John A. Walker’s essay ‘Context as a Determinant of Photographic Meaning’ (freely available online). In your learning log make some notes summarising Walker’s argument and your own thoughts on this issue.

Walker begins the essay by discussing context in reference to location, giving a wedding photo as an example. A wedding photo in a personal album is sentimental, but the same photo in a photographer’s window or portfolio becomes more of an advertisement. This explains that what we assume in context reaches far beyond what the image dictates. 

The essay then goes on to define context, by explaining that although the actual image is impossible to change, the meaning behind it does depending on several factors, such as how the image is distributed and the purpose behind its initial production. Add to that a caption or include it within other media such as a montage, and the meaning can change again. 

By stating that “there is a need to examine the life of an image as well as its birth, to consider  its circulation, its currency”, Walker explains that in terms of art, there is a wealth of information that can be relayed to define context beyond the artist's original intentions. Given that images are now more freely available in a multitude of ways, there is more freedom to repurpose artworks. This would mean context should also include the way it is used, who it is used by and for what purpose. With the example that Walker gives in describing the exhibition ‘Three Perspectives on Photography’, he states that photos from the exhibition had previously been seen by himself in several different settings, including a magazine and a print in a library. The photos themselves are also of a personal nature, showing their subject Jo Spence throughout stages of her life from a baby to a middle aged woman. The fact that they are personal photos that one would find in a family album, are then used for publication and exhibition, explains how context can be manipulated and reconfigured.

Interestingly, the essay goes on to discuss how viewers interpret and find context in images. Walker recognises the assumptions that as we are all unique individuals with individual experiences, we each experience art in unique ways. However, using Peter Marlow’s photographs of a National Front steward as an example, he goes on to express that we have collective views in social groups that also reflect collective experiences. The photo in question reflects different meanings to different social groups depending on classifications of race, class, age etc. This is what gives certain contexts such power when it comes to important persuasive communications. Such images would not be effective if they did not appeal to cumulative attitudes.

Walker agrees that when we analyse imagery, we analyse much of our own memories, thoughts, emotions and experiences. However, as a society we are also flooded with imagery from multiple sources, that have influences over our interpretations. To be fully aware of such influences and be able to separate them from analysing present images would require ‘aberrant decoding’ or ‘oppositional consumption’. With this, I believe Walker is saying that no one can really interpret an image without being influenced in some way. This in itself can be a troublesome issue for all types of artists, as they may fight to produce work that provides the context they wish to convey, and try to avoid producing work that is aimed to suit its audiences. 

Reading the essay helped me to gain a deeper understanding of what is meant by the term context and that there is no one single or simple answer. Context is diverse and dependent on multiple factors, some way beyond the control of the artist and/or the audience. That much I agree with. I hadn't also considered the fact that when we observe anything, from photography, paintings or even poetry, we can never truly approach an analysis with a completely blank mind and that we interpret art with our own memories and life experiences. I am intrigued by the argument that every interpretation is unique, as I had not considered that as a society, as social creatures, however isolated or different we may be, we have a collective sense of morals and ethics. They may be divisive and controversial, but they hold influence on how we interpret the world around us. I think i always looked at context as ‘what the artist wants us to see’ but this essay has prompted me to truly consider what it is, who decides it and what effect it has on us. 

New terminology: 

Subsidiary less important than but related or supplementary to something.: "a subsidiary flue of the main chimney" "many argue that the cause of animal rights is subsidiary to that of protecting the environment".

Supplanted supersede and replace.: "domestic production has been supplanted by imports and jobs have been lost".

Spatio-temporal belonging to both space and time or to space–time.

didactic intended to teach, particularly in having moral instruction as an ulterior motive.: "a didactic novel that set out to expose social injustice".

Guerrilla intended to teach, particularly in having moral instruction as an ulterior motive.: "a didactic novel that set out to expose social injustice".

Aberrant departing from an accepted standard.: "this somewhat aberrant behaviour requires an explanation".