- The general thesis of Barrett is the interpretation of what exactly interpretation is revolving around photography.
- Barret begins with the introduction of Jeff Wall’s piece, Dead Troop Talk. Interpreting what he sees and relating it to real life accounts of wars. Only he clarifies that despite the use of realism by Wall, it truly isn’t so. Using this to open the chapter, Barrett goes onto what the overall theme of the chapter will involve: what exactly interpretation is.
- “To interpret an image is to make sense of it.” Just as Barret explains in the very first line of his in-depth explanation-- interpretation is what you make something out to be regarding it’s look/feel using internal sources: in this case, the photo itself.
- According to Barrett, interpretation is important in criticism of photographs because it entails the revelation to what one understands about the photograph. Criticism isn’t merely the common thought of negativity spewed about one's artistic medium, but the intertwining of descriptive words and the meaning behind it, which the critics would come up with themselves.
- I thought the Psychoanalytic interpretation stood out the most. I can’t say why exactly, but the idea that someone made a series of photos with the subject matter being dolls and the assumed subject being lack of freedom-- struck me.
- The main point the author tries to shine light on in the section “‘Right’ Interpretations” is the very fact that some interpretations are better than others. I do not think I got the sense of Barrett trying to establish a right versus wrong in interpretations, because that simply comes down to one’s opinion. But there will certainly always be one (or more) that understand or grasp more from a piece than say, another critic.
- Intentionalism leaves room for a lot of errors and isn’t exactly the easiest to establish. The concept basically goes that whatever the artist tries to capture, an audience or critic should be able to identify. But with a majority of artists not being around to explain their work, it isn’t fairly easy to access what exactly they visioned when taking the captured piece.
- Interpretations or what one perceives has a lot to do with what has experienced/and feelings coming together.
- Significance is more personal than meaning.
8. By adding critic/interpretation onto the work of another and emphasising for more expressions about a certain piece to be shared, we only benefit as we see what he once didn’t using the eye of another.
