The art of deconstruction
In my last blog piece I mentioned the common phrase 'a picture paints a thousand words', deconstructing an image is the art of reading the words the image paints.
Deconstructing an image is something that is done subconsciously every time we look at an image for any longer than a passing glance.
It is something that can be refined by educating ourselves in all areas, basically the more you understand about the world around you, the more you can read into what an image is trying to say.
With this in mind you could say that photographs are a language all of their own.
When reading a photograph there are 3 steps we must take in a specific order to deconstruct it accurately.
First, we must describe what we see, in the example below we can see tulips in the foreground with a joyful couple behind the tulips, the male is kissing the female. An example of how education can allow you to make informed descriptions is that tulips flower in April, allowing us to add a time of year to the photo. We must be careful with this though as photographs can be manipulated.
Secondly, we must interpret the image, for example in this image I personally feel that the photographer is using the tulips as a connotation for love, flowers blossom just like love does. Also the flower he has chosen is Spring flower and spring is associated with life and a time for things growing. A relationship is something that starts and hopefully grows stronger.
Using a spring flower could also imply that there is a new life on the way, with this in mind the photo could be used as a subliminal pregnancy announcement for family and friends.
The photographer may also be using the flower as a direct link to human life, flowers grow, blossom and eventually die just like we do.
Lastly, we must evaluate the image as whole, the image I have used for this is quite a simple one compared to the narratives of others. From what we have described and interpreted we can safely say the photographer was aiming to tell the story of a blossoming romance in his image. Love in its early stage is a beautiful thing and I feel that beauty and love has been captured in the photo.
Taking the 3 fundamental steps above allows us to better understand the narrative of any image we see and the more we know about the world can aid this process, in turn this should lead to thinking more about the images we take ourselves.
Deconstructing an image is something that is done subconsciously every time we look at an image for any longer than a passing glance.
It is something that can be refined by educating ourselves in all areas, basically the more you understand about the world around you, the more you can read into what an image is trying to say.
With this in mind you could say that photographs are a language all of their own.
When reading a photograph there are 3 steps we must take in a specific order to deconstruct it accurately.
First, we must describe what we see, in the example below we can see tulips in the foreground with a joyful couple behind the tulips, the male is kissing the female. An example of how education can allow you to make informed descriptions is that tulips flower in April, allowing us to add a time of year to the photo. We must be careful with this though as photographs can be manipulated.
Secondly, we must interpret the image, for example in this image I personally feel that the photographer is using the tulips as a connotation for love, flowers blossom just like love does. Also the flower he has chosen is Spring flower and spring is associated with life and a time for things growing. A relationship is something that starts and hopefully grows stronger.
Using a spring flower could also imply that there is a new life on the way, with this in mind the photo could be used as a subliminal pregnancy announcement for family and friends.
The photographer may also be using the flower as a direct link to human life, flowers grow, blossom and eventually die just like we do.
Lastly, we must evaluate the image as whole, the image I have used for this is quite a simple one compared to the narratives of others. From what we have described and interpreted we can safely say the photographer was aiming to tell the story of a blossoming romance in his image. Love in its early stage is a beautiful thing and I feel that beauty and love has been captured in the photo.
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