Photographs & History: Emotion and materiality by Elizabeth Edwards

This article breaks down the semiotics of photographs and examines how components could possibly be changed to create responses. Photographs all at once are objects of visual interest, create emotional and intellectual responses, trigger associations with memories or historical time frames and are a physical object. Manipulation of any one component of a photograph for example the subject, the placement of the photograph in a gallery, or its physical condition can create a response in the viewer.

I was talking this week with a photographer about a possible proposal for an up coming project. He specializes in trying to see the human connections. We talked about many of the issues discussed in Edward's article. Specifically the history behind the area, architecture, community, the physical nature of the photographs. The challenge of the piece and many art pieces seems to be is to make that leap from the physical visual artifact to the internal and external discussion of what the the piece is about. How can artifacts better convey the experience of discovery, documentation, and creation that the photographer goes through? And are there any examples?