Do You Look At Or Look Into A Photo?

Drying clothes the old-fashioned way. (click to enlarge)
Nikon Z7II; 24-200mm f/3.5-6.3 lens @ 49mm; 1/100th sec. @ f/8; ISO 110

It seems to me that in this world of Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, Amazon and other Internet based platforms, as well as how our general culture has evolved, is for everyone to be immediate.  In that same regard we have been tacitly encouraged to, and have gotten into the habit of, just quickly looking 'at' photos.  Think about when you browse through images how much time you spend with each image.  I bet most of you would only look at an Instagram image for about 3-5 seconds, then you move on.  You may look at a really stunning photo for 30 seconds!  Really, a glance at best, I would bet for most people.

I would encourage you to look 'into' photographs.  I would encourage you to pause and really see what is contained in the image.  What actually do you see?  What is the content of the photograph?  By doing so you may be able to discern what the photograph is actually about and what the photographer may have wanted to say by making it.  Or maybe not.  That's okay also.  The point being that the photographer took time to stop, compose and either print or post a photo and we should take the time, out of a bit of respect for our fellow photographers, to not just look but to see the image before us.

One of the primary means of how I learned photography was by looking though books, magazines and museum exhibits of photographs by good (and great) photographers.  I must have looked at tens of thousands of photographs during my many formative years.  Yes, sometimes I just looked 'at' them, but mostly I strived to understand "what makes a good photograph" and spent time looking 'into' the images.  I not only looked at composition, line, space, color, tone, contrast and gesture but also at content.  What was in that photograph that made the photographer decide to press his or her shutter button at that precise time?

Sometimes I am surprised at what I find in a photograph.  Sometimes, at first glance, I think, it is one thing but upon further examination, it turns out that there is more to the content than I ever suspected.  If I just looked 'at' the image, I would have missed it.  Sometimes what's in a photograph may be trivial and sometimes it tells a story.

The image at the top of this post is an example, but not really a very good one, however, but one that I’ll use to illustrate my points.  On its surface, it is just a photo of two small country houses with some clothes drying on a clothes line out back.  When I spotted this scene, I immediately knew I wanted to photograph it.  Why?  I like to photograph things in our culture that either have gone away or or going away—things that are disappearing from our lives.  In this case, I rarely see anyone hang clothes out on clotheslines these days.  One I grabbed my camera and walked around looking for a good composition, I started to see other things that, at first, I didn't notice.  For example, an old style television antenna attached to the white house in the background.  We used to have one long before cable TV was invented.  I spotted the window air conditioner precariously resting on an old 2" X 4" board.  Also, a satellite dish, not pointed to the sky, but downward toward the side of the house.  The old green faded tin roof grabbed my interest.  They are very expensive to install and that doesn't quite jive with my perceived economic status of the residents of this house.  But I should make generalizations, should I?  On the clothesline are what looks like well worn blue jeans, a paisley summer dress, towels and sheets, handkerchiefs and some old faded T-shirts.  To me, signs of hard working people.  The upper pane of the rearward side window is not only cracked but there is a hole in the glass through which hot or cold air as well as 'critters' can enter.  The rear screened porch almost looks homemade and the old, tired asphalt shingles above it have seen much better days.

A crop from the above image. (click to enlarge)

When I spend time looking 'into' photographs, I start to wonder what the story is and ask myself questions.  For example, the satellite dish—did the occupants feel as though it no longer had value?  Did they stop watching television because their television no longer functioned or was it that they just couldn't afford the service any longer?  Where do the occupants work?  From looking at the few clothes on the line, I surmise in some job where manual labor might be required.  Why is the window left broken with a hole?  Questions like that enter my mind and brings more understanding about the image to me.

I enjoy looking 'into' a photograph and not spending 3-5 seconds looking at a photograph, then moving on.  Just think about how much you may miss?  Just think about how you may never know why the photographer made that particular exposure?  Just think about how your are shortchanging yourself on your photographic journey and self-education?

Just sayin'.  Take your time.  Slow down.  Enjoy the work of other photographers and try to understand what it is they are trying to say and what they are trying to show you.  If you do, it may bring some clarity to your own work.

Join me over at my website, https://www.dennismook.com.  

Thanks for looking. Enjoy!  

Dennis A. Mook  

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