Graham Clarke - How to Read a Photograph

• Read a photograph as a text rather than an image.
• Photographic discourse allows the photograph to gain meaning.
• A photograph is never a neutral representation.
• A photograph is always a product of the photographer - the reflection of a specific point of view.
• Looking at a photograph raises questions in your mind about it and it's representations. 
• Historical, cultural and aesthetic references in every photo as well as invisible meanings of the photo relating to the photographer and when the image was taken.
• Photographs show a style, just as a piece of writing by a specific author would be recognisable so we can view photographers as auteurs.
• Denotative: the literal meaning and significance of anything in the image e.g. a gesture, expression or object.
• Connotative: the social, cultural and historical meanings that are added to the literal meaning of an image. 
• Each photographic genre has it's own conventions and terms of reference.
• Studium: passive response to photograph.
• Punctum: critical reading.