Intent

I've been working my way slowly through "The Photographer's Eye" (which, incidentally, is improving by leaps and bounds) and last night I read the chapter on intent, which got me thinking about the concept. Since I've got this spinning around in my head, I thought I'd try to dump some of it out here:

The success of an image, (and here I'm writing about my own images) depends heavily on whether what I intended actually appears in the image. Another viewer may see the image and enjoy the subject, light, or whatever, but if it doesn't show what I wanted, the way I wanted, the image will often end up in my hard drive's trash bin. The intent can be very simple, such as showing a play of light or a pattern on the landscape. It is when the intent becomes more complex that the image itself becomes far more complex. This complexity is particularly important in the making of the image, but can be as well in its viewing.

Let's use the image above as an example. I made the shot last May in Florianopolis, Brazil. The shot was taken out of the window of an oyster restaurant. The lagoon is just inches out of the frame on the right side of the image. It was just past sunset. What drew my attention was the way the straight parallel lines of the roof contrasted with the jagged edges of the chipped paint and the curved top of the shuttered window. Showing that pattern and the light on the subject is about as far as my intention went. As far as it goes, I think I succeeded, simple intent resulted in a simple image.

Now let's jump on to the viewer's perspective. This is where things get fuzzy. Because you see, when the image isn't accompanied by text, it is completely open to interpretation. And as I try to look at this as a third-party viewer I could see this interpreted in numerous ways: the pattern of rooftop and cracked paint I intended, a statement of poverty, age, decay, or third-world lifestyle. I'm sure there are others.

What I'm getting at as I explore all this, is that what the photographer intends is not necessarily what the viewer will receive. So what is the point of intent? Perhaps most importantly it provides motivation for the photographer, thought, and mindfulness. And more than just about everything else, more important than our equipment or our location is the thought that goes into our images. When we put in effort, our images are get better, regardless of how they are interpreted.

There is more too it than that, of course, but this is as far as my head spinning has gotten. More later.