When reading photographs it is important to acknowledge the power of semiotics, as ultimately the visual rhetoric of an image will determine how it is read. While structuralist views offer an objective approach to deciphering imagery (subject, detail, frame, time and vantage point), post-modernist values highlight the importance of taking subjectivity into account. The Punctum refers to an image’s subjective status. The values of an image that provoke an emotional reaction are often what people will connect to when observing visual content. In conjunction with the Studium, which provides factual insight, the Punctum and Stadium can work in tandem to create a depth of meaning within a singular image or body of work. The article featured in National Geographic, addressing Steve McCurry’s Afghan Girl, highlights how the meaning of interpretation juxtaposed with presented facts can influence the viewer and subject’s response to a photograph.
https://www.nationalgeographic.com/magazine/2002/04/afghan-girl-revealed/
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