Subject And Meaning In Photos: Understand What Matters Most
Subject and meaning explored in this statue of a golden lion.
By exploring notions of subject and meaning in photography I’ve been able to progress to more expressive and creative image making. Here’s what I’ve discovered along the way.
The subject of a photo can go beyond what’s depicted and point to what’s suggested beyond the physical and psychological boundaries of the frame. Meaning is derived through story telling, symbolism and metaphor that leaves space for imagination and deeper audience engagement.
Photos become art when they explore the photographer’s authentic nature and world view while illuminating universal themes like the human condition.
Let’s explore notions of subject and meaning in photography, the purpose of photography and why it is we make photos.
By the end of our journey you’ll understand how to employ your own creativity to move beyond straight photo documentation towards a more artistic and personal representation of the world around you.
The Importance Of Subject in Photography
On one hand this photo is little more than a competent snapshot which I made, in a moment of relative calm, as a tour group invaded the lovely Church Of Our Lady, Bruges in northwest Belgium.
The image showcases a statue of a lion sitting atop the mausoleum of Charles the Bold, the former Duke of Burgundy.
The subject matter, a golden lion and helmet resting on a large coffin, is certainly interesting.
Likewise, the warm color palette is uplifting and the light does a great job of revealing wonderful shapes and textures in the objects on display.
But there’s more to this picture than what the subject matter initially suggests.
The fact that the statue is of a lion suggests strength. The fact that the lion is golden suggests wealth and prestige.
Ultimately, this photo speaks to me of power and wealth. It also speaks to the continued cultivation of status through the reverence awarded to the Duke and his position by situating his coffin in such a beautiful church.
What Is The Purpose Of Photography?
The essential purpose of photography is to document the world around us and communicate our response to what we see and experience in our lives.
We take pictures, at least initially, to please ourselves and to satisfy our curiosity for exploration and documentation.
But it’s both gratifying and important to be able to share our photos with a larger audience. Social media, as it’s very much based around images, is ideally suited to photographers.
For all its negativity and intrusiveness don’t discount the power of social media. While often portrayed negatively social media platforms were originally designed with largely noble intentions.
I still believe that, if used properly, social media can be of value to photographers. Likewise, life affirming photography can make a real and positive difference to the lives of others.
Photography is a universally understood form of graphic communication. While there's plenty of room for audience interpretation, many themes and metaphors remain timeless and universal.
All creative folks search for meaning and purpose in their lives.
The democratization of photography is a gift in that it allows us to seek meaning through a process that's affordable and, as it’s easily shareable, accessible to, potentially, millions of people around our world.
If you feel you have something to say photography might well be the vehicle by which you get to explore and express your own, unique world view.
Here's some examples of how you might do just that.
Photos of kids shared with grandparents.
Pictures that reinforce environmental themes.
Photos that promote kindness, compassion and empathy.
Images that showcase universal notions of family, love and kinship.
Photos that explore the Human Condition.
Epic photo opportunities await the intrepid traveler on Cuverville Island in Antarctica.
What is a photograph?
A digital photo is much more than a bunch of zeros and ones collected on a camera’s sensor, processed and then saved onto a memory card.
Likewise a film based image is not restricted to the interaction of light on a chemical sensitive emulsion.
Some photos have commercial value, but that’s only because they help to market a product or service or, in the case of wedding and family portrait photography, elicit potent memories associated with a memorable event.
Photography is about the recording of a moment in time in a way that preserves the photographer’s unique interpretation of that moment.
Memory is essential to the value photography offers and your photos are unique in that they explore particular moments in time from your own unique perspective.
This photo of Cuverville Island in Antarctica is a good example as all members of the tour I co-ran made quite different images from the deck of our ship as we sailed away towards our next Antarctic adventure.
Some folks chose a wide-angle view, showing more of the surrounding sky and sea, while others chose to zoom in and explore various elements within the landscape and the surrounding bay.
In many ways my image is straightforward and composed in such a way to show the harsh and rugged beauty of this epic landscape. This cool and quite high contrast rendition further emphasizes the inaccessible nature of much of Cuverville Island.
I made the photo with a full frame Canon 5D Mark II camera and a Canon EF 100-400mm f/4-5-5.6 L series USM lens. The image was made, hand held, at 400mm at the relatively modest shutter speed of 1/200 second at ISO 640 with the lens aperture set to f/5.6
The past is past and the future doesn't exist. Both, therefore, are abstract notions. We can't change the past and we can, at best, only influence the future.
All that's certain is the present and we need to fully immerse ourselves in what it is we're doing in the here and now. Without this level of immersion we’re likely existing in a way that doesn’t allow us to realise our own true potential.
Photography is one of the best ways I’ve found to fully immerse myself in the moment. I feel alive when making photos and many of my most memorable experiences live on through the photos that I’ve made.
That’s because photos are both windows onto the world and mirrors that reflect our own, unique world view.
We're informed by what we've learned from our previous photos and inspired to create something that both celebrates the moment and, overtime, may be considered memorable.
However, a number of factors are involved in determining the photos each of us make in the here and now. Some of these factors include the following:
Age
Gender
Knowledge
Cultural Heritage
Religion or Spirituality
Politics
World View
Life Experience
Motivation
This is a critical understanding as it underpins why it is that the photos you make are unique. You are, after all, an individual. Value your uniqueness and trust your intuition to guide you towards your true creative nature.
I created a comprehensive post on this subject titled Making Unique Photos. I’m sure it will help you along your own unique creative path.
Why We Make Photos?
Have you ever wondered why it is you make photos?
After all a photo of a sunset is simply a two dimensional artificial representation of a natural phenomena. A photo is not an actual sunset, nor is it a newborn baby, a Bar Mitzvah or a birthday cake.
I’m not saying put your camera down and take up stamp collecting (not that there’s anything wrong with it).
I’m simply saying that it’s important to separate a photograph from the person, place or event that’s been depicted.
Photos are powerful and potent memory drivers, allowing us to think about loved ones and important moments in our lives.
Nonetheless, it’s not common to hug a photo, take it on a picnic or bring it home to meet your parents.
What makes the photos you create unique is that they represent a personal, documented exploration of the people, places and events you've experienced during your journey through life.
Needless to say each of your photos is a kind of time capsule. And the very best photos you’ve created are most certainly worth preserving.
Photography Is An Act Of Creation
For me the act of making photos is a form of creation that both explores my own, unique world view and points to realities outside that which are depicted within the frame.
In that way a photo is what it is, but also what it refers to.
Photography really is a kind of alchemy, that special mix of technology and magic that, somehow, contains its very own reality existing only within the borders of the image.
Sometimes the photographer is quite clear about what else, in addition to the people, objects or places depicted, is being explored.
But, more often than not, we're simply drawn to make a photograph on an intuitive level.
Thankfully our previous experiences making photos will give us the confidence to know there's potential in what we're doing.
In this case it's not until the image is recorded or, quite possibly, not until after it's been post processed that we're able to interpret its meaning.
In fact it’s often a good idea for some time to pass between making the image and deciding what to do with it and, ultimately, how important it is.
That level of separation, between the moment the image is recorded in camera and the process of viewing the finished photo, can be important to assessing its quality and value from a more unbiased perspective.
It's an interesting idea because the act of creating the photo, in camera, removes the subject from its reality.
It follows then that another level of separation is achieved through post processing and, most certainly, when an image is printed and framed for exhibition.
Each level of separation takes the image further away from its original, organic reality.
Perhaps that's why it's easier to understand the meaning or message being explored in our photos the further we take them away from their original, organic beginnings as a flower, a puppy or a face.
Meaning And Connection In A Photo
Photography, as art, is all about such levels of demarcation. You could certainly say that, for the artist, photography isn't about making photos, but about the search for meaning.
One thing I love about photographing strangers is the intimacy I share with them in those few short moments during which the photos are made.
That connection is then extended to the audience who can derive their own meaning from what they see.
I created a lovely post, featuring images from the wildlife photographer’s mecca of South Georgia Island, titled Finding Authentic Meaning In Life which further explores the concept of meaning as it relates to a creative life.
About To Travel?
Photography And The Loss Of Meaning In Social Media
Personally I think the celebrity so many would be influences seek on social media can be pretty soul destroying.
While I've never been sucked into the more negative aspects of social media I'm yet to be all that excited or influenced by it.
Currently I spend almost no time on any social media platform. However, to grow a large audience for my blog it's hard to avoid social media completely.
With this in mind I'II probably go back to it, though I'II likely just limit myself to one or two platforms. The ones where potential readers for this blog are likely to be found.
Ultimately, if the content I work so hard to produce can bring more meaning into the lives of others, then it’s worth the effort to reinvest my time again into social media.
I’m going to revisit Twitter, but it's unlikely that I'II invest much effort in Facebook.
Instagram certainly had potential, but it's largely been hijacked by influences, many of whom are not what I'd call legitimate and may not offer substantial value to their followers.
And then there’s Instagram's algorithm which, I understand, largely controls what appears in your stream.
Of the platforms that remain I think Pinterest is my best option going forward.
All social media platforms have one major weakness for photographers. An algorithm or policy change can send years of hard work building an audience down the drain.
That's why I concentrate on creating the best content I can in the hope that search engines like Google will reward me by ranking my site and the individual blog posts I write higher in search results.
I can tell you that, while some of my posts rank very highly quite quickly, it can take many months for other blog posts to rank highly.
Needless to say, I'm in it for the long haul.
I've been a photographer and teacher of photography for decades and I'm committed to making this site one of the world's great travel photography sites.
It's a big ask and the effort to get there is, frankly, massive. But I'm moving in the right direction and I'm motivated to keep going due to my desire to live a purpose driven and meaning rich life.
Central to that goal is the need to create images that inspire and blog posts that educate and motivate my readers to explore their own creativity through the art of photography.
Live A Meaning Rich Life Through Photography
Personally I believe happiness, which over recent times has come to denote the search for pleasure, is overrated. The same is true for our desire to achieve it.
Isn't it better to be immersed in a meaning rich life, one that touches the soul and illuminates the human condition.
It's good to be selfless, to be focused upon others rather than on ourselves. The irony is that, for the artist within, to be focused upon others we have to make decisions that, on the surface, might appear selfish.
However, by creating space and time within our daily life, we’ll be better able to concentrate on nurturing our own creativity. As a result we’ll produce the quality of art so essential to our true life's purpose.
My advice to you, for what it’s worth, is to be strong and get your priorities right.
Save yourself, then save the world.
Subject and meaning showcased in this statue of Charles the Bold, Bruges.
Picture Meaning - Is It Important?
For a photo to be art it needs to do more than describe the subject or scene depicted.
Three quite specific questions come to mind.
What’s the photo about?
What story does it tell?
What meaning can we derive from the photo in question?
Storytelling In Photography
This image featuring a statue of Charles the Bold, the former Duke of Burgundy, is an example of the powerful relationship that, for centuries, has existed between church and state.
Photography is a great way to explore such relationships, particularly when your photos incorporate elements of narrative or storytelling.
Do you use storytelling in your own photography?
I wrote a comprehensive post tilted Photo Essay: Recipe For Success which features images from the glorious Huangshan (i.e., Yellow Mountain) in China.
The post describes how to tell a story in a series of photos and I’m sure you’ll find it a great way to showcase a particular event (e.g., birthday, wedding, holiday) you attend or a location you visit on your travels.
But while it’s great to be able to tell a story through a series of images, it’s a mistake to think that has to mean making a series of pictures in a linear fashion.
A photo essay incorporating the notion of a day in the life might well include images from dawn till dusk, but a photo essay covering a season does not have to include photos made on each and every day during that time period.
Mind you, if you like that kind of challenge, you might want to check out the book and film titled Chasing By The Light by National Geographic photographer Jim Brandenburg.
The book is great, but the film explores the photos, the project and the photographer at a much deeper level.
The book and film document Jim’s challenge to make a single exposure, each and every day, for ninety days between the autumnal equinox and the winter solstice.
I consider it a classic, though I particularly enjoyed the film through which Jim’s project was recounted.
A lot can be said in a single image and it’s long been said that a photo is worth a thousand words. That concept speaks to the power and value inherent to a successful photograph.
These days the term Content Is King is widely used. Have no doubt that great photos still contain plenty of valuable content to encourage analysis, debate and critique.
Be assured that it’s possible to explore a story through a single photo. It’s true that a single picture may not tell the entire story or answer all questions associated with the subject, topic or theme in question.
But sometimes it’s good to leave some of the story untold. That leaves space for the imagination and, with it, a deeper level of engagement from your audience.
Conditioning Is A Barrier We Must Overcome
We are all conditioned throughout our lives. That conditioning can come in many ways, including the following:
Members of our family
The education system
Religion
The media
The politics of the state
We are conditioned to love and also to hate.
That conditioning, which is not always subtle or subliminal, can cause us to negatively judge people, lifestyles and cultural practices that are different from our own.
How Travel Brings Meaning To Your Photos
One of the great things about travel is that it immerses us in lives, landscapes and cultures beyond our normal, everyday experience.
In doing so travel can free us from the constraints associated with normality and open our mind to new meanings and possibilities.
We grow through change and the best way to embrace change is to explore all manner of things that fall outside of our so-called normal life.
Freedom from the known is the way forward for the creative, meaning seeking soul and I believe that travel and photography are ideal partners on that most important journey.
Sudy in composition featuring housing in Stanley, capital of the Falkland Islands.
Composition Emphasizes Subject and Meaning
Composition is a critical factor underpinning many great images and a major consideration in my own photography practice.
This unconventional image made in Stanley, the capital of the Falkland Islands, is really a study in composition.
The photo just happens to include houses, fences and sky. What it’s actually about is line, shape, texture and repetition.
Rather than employing composition to enhance the visual appeal of the image, this photo is, primarily, about composition. As a result the composition has become the primary subject of the photograph.
Well, I did say it was an unconventional image.
However, my usual practice is to employ composition to emphasize the primary subject and to more effectively convey meaning in my photos. More than likely that’s how you’ll want to use it as well.
There are numerous elements of composition that are worth considering when constructing a photo. Let’s explore some them now.
Light Illuminates Subject
The color, quality and direction of light are significant ways by which you can enhance the mood of a photograph.
Imagine the cold, blue light of dawn illuminating the earth.
Compare that with the warm colors we associate with a classic sunrise or sunset and the more neutral color of light present, on the average day, between the post sunrise and pre sunset golden hours.
Photographing Greenland: Light and Color is a short post I wrote which explains some of the factors that influence light and color in your photos.
Given that light and color are often considered the two most important elements in photography, I’m sure you’ll find this post a very worthwhile read.
We Live In A World Of Color
Though I love black and white photography, most of my images remain in color.
We live in a world of color, yet it takes skill to compose images where color actively contributes to the success of the photos you make.
The hue, saturation and brightness of a color, and how one color interacts with the color or colors that surround it are key considerations when working in color.
Have you ever been to Buenos Aires? The neighborhood known as La Boca is a riot of color and an absolute hoot to photograph.
My post titled, How To Photograph Colorful La Boca, includes some helpful tips for how to approach color on an urban photo walk.
Line Unites Subjects Within A Photo
The use of line is a fantastic graphic device in photography. You can use lines to emphasize three dimensional space within the bounds of a two dimensional photograph.
Lines are also used to create shapes, whether actual or suggested by the placement of related objects within the frame.
I wrote a post titled The Power Of Lines In Composition which features a fairly abstract image made in the snow on a famous mountain in China.
If you’re keen to discover unique ways to utilise line in your own photos you’ll want to take a look at that post.
Shape Defines Subject By Adding Body To A Photo
My post How To Use Composition To Make Great Photos features images from a photo walk I undertook in St. Petersburg, Russia.
Shape is the dominant element of composition in these photos and I make use of this short post to discuss how I composed the images around shape.
Power Of Texture To Define Subject In A Black And White Photo
Texture is an important element of composition, but it’s particularly useful when working in black and white.
Color is just such a dominant element that, when you remove it from a photo, you need a least one other element of composition to really dominate your photo.
Texture and contrast are particularly well suited to black and white photos.
The simple photo in the post Finding Beauty In The Banal illustrates just how important texture can be to the success of a black and white photo.
Use Balance To Influence Meaning In Your Photos
The concept of balance is fundamental to photography. Just think about how the placement of the horizon in a landscape photo effects the meaning of the image.
Is it an earth bound photo or a more ethereal and, potentially, spiritual sky based image?
The post Create Order And Balance In Your Photos features an architectural element from a Hindu temple complex on the island of Bali.
The photo around which the post is based is primarily a study in composition where, following the architects original intentions, I’ve used balance to bring a sense of order and cohesion to the photo.
How to Use Scale and Proportion To Tell The Story
I’m really happy with the epic nature of the photos from a post I created based around a trip to spectacular Greenland.
These photos do a great job illustrating how to use scale and proportion in your own photography.
The post, titled Scale and Proportion in Photos, is one I’m sure you’ll find both informative and inspirational.
Framing Contains and Reveals Subject And Meaning
A photograph is a world unto itself and framing allows you to isolate the primary subject or scene from within the larger environment.
It’s important to note that what you exclude from the frame can be as important as what you include.
By determining what to exclude from your composition you've determined the borders of that world and, as a result, the stories explored and the messages and meaning evoked within it.
It’s important to recognize that framing is one of the ways by which the photographer seeks to represent a subject or scene in line with their own particular world view.
I recently published a post titled Fill The Frame, Make Better Photos which provides some really useful tips on how to employ framing, in camera, to improve the composition and clarify the intent of your photos.
Focus Defines Subject
The degree of separation between competing focal points or between the primary focal point and its surroundings provides visual separation and helps to direct the viewer to the most important visual element within the image.
The ability to emphasize the primary subject of your photo and, where appropriate, to de-emphasize its surroundings through critical focusing and depth of field are essential techniques in photography.
Depth Of Field Concentrates Attention
Depth Of Field allows you to determine how much of the image, both in front and behind the actual point of focus (e.g., subject), is considered sharp.
Generally speaking you'll want to employ a shallow DOF for portrait and a large DOF for landscape photography.
I’ve written a very helpful post on this subject titled Depth Of Field: Photography Guide.
Written in a very straightforward manner this post will help you use Depth Of Fields to make more visually interesting and emotionally evocative images.
Use Angle Of View To Enhance Story Telling
The angle of view from which you photograph can greatly influence the look and message you’re trying to communicate.
I’d encourage you to play with the angle of view by moving around your subject and photographing it from either a lower or higher vantage point.
Instead of simply bringing the camera to your eye, bring your eye to where the camera needs to be to make a compelling and visually arresting image.
This post from the Arc de Triomphe illustrates two distinctly different views of the same subject matter. I’m sure you’ll be surprised at just how very different these two photos appear.
Changing Perspective Leads To Unique Images
Likewise, by changing perspective you’ll be amazed at how much more interesting your images will become.
All that’s required to change perspective is to implement one or more of the following techniques:
Change the camera to subject distance
Change the subject to background distance
Change the focal length (e.g., zoom in or zoom out) with which you make your photo
Fancy a quick trip to Russia?
My blog post titled How To Monumentalize Your Subject provides some great examples of how to use perspective to create visually arresting images.
Black and white portrait of a father in Kolkata, India shows interaction.
The Authentic Photographer Seeks Meaning
Have no doubt beautiful photography, like all great art, is important as it enhances the human experience.
What's more, photos enable the kind of emotional learning that helps to shape our attitudes, thinking and behavior.
Nonetheless, photographs are a fiction. After all, isn’t the notions of love, happiness and cohesion that’s central to the illusion that wedding and portrait photographers build their business around.
Having once operated my own wedding/portrait studio I can make such a claim, without feeling bad about doing so.
Frankly, if you’re paying someone to make your portrait it’s only natural to expect that you’ll look better and, perhaps, more joyous in the best photos than you would in everyday life.
That’s actually the point of the process and the transaction that’s entered into with the photographer.
It’s not all that different from fashion photographers, except the larger the budget the more fantastic the result is likely to be.
What about landscape and nature photographers?
It’s the same deal, really. You look for interesting subject matter and employ composition and, hopefully, flattering light to make a great photo.
The fact that the photo may look better than most folks memory of the location, particularly if your photo was made around sunrise or sunset while their visit was during the middle of the day, is perfectly acceptable.
While your photos are documenting people, places and events they are also your interpretations of key experiences in your life.
The more positive the experience the more you’re going to have perceived it through rose colored glasses. That’s reality, as you perceive it. Why then, would your photos not reflect that reality?
Just remember that a photo is a thing unto itself. It exists outside of the people, event or location that compromised the subject matter of your photo.
Approaching photography creatively provides you with the opportunity to move the subjects depicted further away from the reality of the moment.
This process allows you to more deeply explore the particular and peculiar reality of the photograph itself.
A greater sense of meaning can be derived through this deeper, more artistic approach to photography.
And the search for meaning is, very much, central to the authenticity so many photographers and other creative folk strive for.
I believe that authenticity exists in the interplay between the following:
The photographer’s motivation for making the photo.
The photographer’s interaction with the subject depicted.
The photographer’s interpretation of the experience involved in creating the photo.
The reality of the final image, whether or not post processing is involved.
Said differently, the photographer’s authentic nature is evident in three levels of interaction or relationship, which we can define as follows:
The interaction between the photographer and the subject
The interaction between the subject and the viewer
The interaction between the viewer and the photographer
All three levels of interaction can be recognized and analyzed in great photos, particularly those that explore the human condition.
Brooding image of the famous Wanaka Tree on Lake Wanaka, New Zealand.
How To Communicate Meaning in Your Photos
Here’s a photo I made in the cold light of dawn of the Wanaka Tree on the South Island of New Zealand.
I’ve had the good fortune to photograph this tree at different times of the year and under very different lighting conditions.
This particular version, made during winter, is my favorite. Bearing no leaves the tree appears older and more isolated than at other times of year.
Winter is a good time to explore metaphors of loneliness and vulnerability, but the blue light of dawn probably pushes this image into the world of melancholy.
I’m fine with that as melancholy has its own, unique beauty. It’s a great place to visit, though I wouldn’t want to reside in such a state.
Images are said to be the quickest and most natural way by which the brain can process, remember and recall information. It’s the reason why we remember people’s faces far more easily than their names.
There are also images that remain with us long after we first saw them. It might be the emotional impact of the image, such as a bride walking down the aisle on her wedding day or the face of a parent at their child’s funeral.
Symbolism and metaphor are other ways we use images to communicate message or meaning.
Think about signs, of which there are many different types. Road signs tell us where to go, how to get there and when to proceed.
Body language is another way in which we use signs to signal intention. An outwardly stretched hand might suggest welcome or friendship but, presented in another way, it could be taken to suggest a message of caution, warning or dismissal.
The famous Leonardo Da Vinci’s artwork titled Vitruvian Man explores concepts such as harmony, balance and cohesion. The artwork suggests the perfection of man, created in God’s image.
Photos are open to interpretation which, to my mind, only makes them more interesting. It's good to be challenged and to be encouraged to think and ponder meaning.
But it's also important for the photographer to accept that, while they may have a clear understanding of the meaning of a particular image, meaning can also be subjective and some images will likely illicit different responses from different people.
The more diverse your audience the more variation there’s likely to be in how they respond to your photos.
It's for this reason that photos that are somewhat ambiguous are often the most compelling and, as a consequence, elicit the greatest level of meaningful feedback.
How To Be More Objective About Your Photos
The connection you form with your own photos is complex. You were there so the experience is yours, as is the memory you've formed from that experience.
It might well be that by investing time, money and physical effort getting to the place where you made that photo your connection with it, as well as the relative importance you place upon it, is enhanced.
This is a good example of why it's extremely difficult to look at your photos in an objective way. The bias we bring to our own photos can make it difficult to judge just how good they really are.
Wouldn't you agree?
Investing a lot of time post processing an image can make it even harder to accept less than enthusiastic feedback.
This is why photographers often overvalue the feedback they get from their partners who, from a desire to provide positive feedback, may not be telling you what it is you really need to know.
I'm all for positive feedback. But don't be fooled by feedback that isn’t honest.
We can all improve and seeking informative and objective feedback, from someone who’s qualified to provide it, is essential for the aspiring photographer.
For a photo to communicate it needs to convey a message, meaning or feeling that connects, on an emotional level, with the viewer.
Steve McCurry's Afghan Girl provides us with a perfect example of this most essential concept.
Cold blue light of a stormy sky near Mildura in Victoria, Australia.
Photos That Find Meaning Through Metaphor
While a photo may contain objects such as trees, rivers, clouds and grass those particular elements can be utilized to suggest a range of quite different concepts.
A tree in full blossom could showcase the vitality and bounty of Springtime. The same tree, photographed in the middle of winter, could suggest notions of scarcity and hardship.
Likewise a fast flowing river might suggest the life giving gift of water, while a dry river bed could suggest the perilous nature of drought.
Think of the image that's at the beginning of every episode of the animated TV show The Simpsons. Those white fluffy clouds, photographed against a blue sky, suggest happiness and safety.
It's the sort of perfect sky that advertisers have used for years to suggest an idealized life.
Now take a look at this image of a stormy sky from Mildura in regional Australia.
There's a lot of rain in those clouds and the storm front they represented delivered a massive amount of rain to Mildura in the middle of a particularly hot and dry summer.
I think it's a beautiful photo, but it's an image that also represents the potential of danger.
A good way to think about metaphor in photography is that it allows you to depict that which is, but also to suggest something else.
You know, in the same way that an owl suggests wisdom while the term couch potato suggests laziness, even sloth.
I think the fact that photography is innately representational can make it difficult to realize that what you see in a photo might suggest something other than what it is.
You see an object is what it is, but it can also be used to suggest something else. Something other than the thing itself.
There's a famous story about the philosopher Sigmund Freud. The story goes that, during a lecture Freud was delivering, a woman interjected and made some negative comments about Freud's apparent preoccupation with sex, even mentioned his cigar.
Freud’s reply was telling.
“Sometimes Madam, a cigar is just a cigar.”
For me photography is a creative pursuit which allows me to explore not just that which is seen, but also that which is suggested. In that regard photography is a very spiritual endeavor.
Of course communicating actual and metaphorical subjects and events has been around for a very, very long time.
Think about those spectacular cave paintings in Lascaux, France. They both depict wild animals and also represent star constellations in the night sky.
There are numerous theories as to the purpose of these paintings and the meaning they contain. A recent theory suggests that the cave paintings at Lascaux were used to represent dates and mark major astronomical events.
My view is that photography, like painting and music, is a life long endeavor. Once you get your head around shutter speeds, apertures, depth of field and the like you move onto composition.
But where photography becomes art is when you see beyond the objects within your camera’s viewfinder and begin to explore the true subject of your photograph and the meaning inherent to it.
To be successful it’s important to trust your intuition and allow the process of creating the photo to guide you by tapping into your own unique creative self.
