The Three R’s of a Photograph

I’ve been dipping my toe in the podcast waters lately, as I’ve not historically been a big fan of podcasts generally. There’s a lot of junk to wade through these days, but I know there’s plenty of good stuff too so I’m making an effort to find some of it.

I recently listened to a few episodes of the LensWork podcast, by Brooks Jensen. Most of the back catalog is behind a paywall, but there’s enough there to get a taste.

He touched on an interesting paradigm in episode 1378, which is that a photograph does one of three things:

• Reminds us of something—that is, it triggers our memory of some past experience,
• Shows us something, particularly something the viewer cannot or has not seen for themself, or
• Reveals something that was previously unknown or hidden from view.

The difference (in case you’re wondering as I was) between show and reveal is really about physical reality versus something more abstract—inner reality, if you will.

It is useful to think about these objectives because knowing which one a given photo is meant to satisfy guides the photographer in answering some important questions both at the time the photo is made (How will I shoot this photo?) and afterward (How will I edit, display, or distribute this photo?).

Knowing the objective also helps in judging the success of the photo—i.e. did the photo meet its objective in the eyes of the viewer?

Finally, not knowing a photo’s objective makes taking, processing, and judging it much more difficult.

When I think about my own photography practice, it’s fair to say that most of my photos remind, but I enjoy taking (or attempting to take) photos that show and reveal too.

But I know me. I know that when I shoot, I fixate on the technical aspects—my camera’s settings, the light, even the composition—without any consideration for what I’m trying to accomplish. Not every photo is an art photo!

I like the idea of being intentional.

As a photographer I need to develop the habit of thinking about my objective every time I press the shutter release button, to be aware of whether the photo I’m about to take will serve as

• A reminder of the experience I’m having in the moment, or
• A window to describe this place and time to someone who is not here, or
• A revelation to the viewer of something that was previously unknown or hidden.

Update: Since I first wrote this, it occurs to me the title does not make much sense. When I was listening to the podcast I changed the word “shows” to “represents” in my head and applied the “three Rs” mnemonic as a way of remembering the three objectives. Mr Jensen uses only “shows” and never refers to the “three Rs.”