Thinking photography - Burgin

Does photography impose a point of view?

Photography has a way of showing us elements of the photographer. Portraying messages through their eyes, through their viewpoints, often presenting a very specific point - allowing audience to see this in the same way as the photographer did/does. Framing and composition of image plays a huge part in this.

Burgin makes it clear how important ideologies are, so that they can be reinforced or subverted by the photographer. Therefore making social, political, economical etc statements through image. The same concept might be captured and presented by different photographers in different ways therefore showcasing different viewpoints the same subject at the same point in time could be captured from conflicting viewpoints and this may result in influencing the audience in different ways.  

This reading was very helpful in highlighting the power of the photograph and how it represents the photographer and his or her viewpoints in many ways. It is interesting because it takes a set of coding to create an image but it must also be decoded by the audience on the other end. This is something I will consider when composing my images what kind of stance I am taking towards ideologies set and how I am constructing a view point.