Reading Assessment 2

Peter Despres
Digital Photography

Barrett Chapter 4: Pg. 78-91

There's two main points of discussion in this section of the book: Interpretive Photographs and Ethically Evaluative Photographs. Interpretive Photographs are shots that attempt to explain how things are without any kind of scientific accuracy. They often represent the worldview of the photographer and are not always logical, even sometimes defying logic entirely. Like most photos, they are meant to be interpreted and can have several different meanings, as art usually does. 

Ethically Evaluative Photographs attempt to describe, either scientifically or otherwise, the ways of the world while also making ethical judgements about their subjects. These photos are usually very passionate, sometimes political, and often proclaim how things should or should not be. These kinds of photos have been used to criticize everything from Nazi's to racism to sexism. They can also be positive sometimes, Brian Lanker's I Dream a World: Portraits of Black Women who changed America contains ethically evaluative photographs that are clearly meant to inspire and praise rather than criticize and destroy.