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Mia VanDyck

Professor Gardiakos

ENC 1102

4, April 2023

Research Paper

Introduction

The first lasting photograph was taken in 1816 by a French inventor named Nicephore

Niepce, before his work photographs would quickly fade away when exposed to light due to the

sensitivity of the photo paper. Niepce’s image took 8 hours to photograph. Little did he know

many years later in 1981, the first digital camera would be invented, taking Niepce’s 8 hours,

and reducing it to 20 seconds to capture an image. Today its takes even less time, allowing

photographers to quickly capture moments. Photography has been a helpful tool in

communicating for as long as photography has been around, being used for documentation such

as, to document family’s heritage and identification or to document current events like

photographer Dorothea Lange when she used photography to capture the effects of the Great

Depression.

Photographers must have an idea of the audience they hope to reach and the message they

want to send them, making up the basis of communication in this form. The purpose of my

research project is to discover what elements make a photograph an effective mode of

communication. I hope to bring insight into the world of photography, different career paths that
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use photograph as their main source of communication and some opinions on the subject of

communication in photography.

Research Synthesis

Many careers utilize photography to help communicate in different contexts. For my

secondary research I analyzed academic journals that focused on explaining how photography

can be used to communicate within different career fields. My intent is to gain an understanding

of the usefulness photography possess. The first journal I investigated shared the bridge between

photography and science. Author, Julie Carr, informs the reader about photography can help

strengthen and communicate research, by simply stating “photographing science is the simplest

way to communicate your research.” (Carr, 458). Carr goes on to explain that the helpfulness of

photography does not end there. Photography can help promote and encourage science by

allowing the public to get a better understanding of the work scientist do. Carr shares how often

times people with a lack of understanding towards the subject don’t appreciate the science

because of its complexity and how photography can help ease the communication barrier.

Another example of a career that often uses photography to help communicate is architecture. In

Photography by Bhavana Shyamsundar, it is talked about how architects use photos to help

explain ideas and concepts to clients. This is useful because often times it can be difficult to

picture how the end product would look in your head leading to hesitation and uncertainty. To an

architect with time constants this can cause many issues later down the road because of

unsatisfied customers. By using photography to help visualize it can be a useful tool to help both
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the architect and the client have a smooth interaction. Shyamsundar also shares how architects

use photography to document and legitimize their works, this allows them to build work

portfolios to help market their work and find future clientele.

The help photography offers does not end there. Photography has been used by teachers

to help keep students engaged, similarly to what Carr described, relating photography to

engaging the public. In Integrating creative photography pedagogy in general education,

authors Li-Hsun Peng and Sieng-Hou Chen conducted a study on a group of students to show

how photography effect engagement in class. Prior to photography being introduced into the

class assignment Peng and Chen reported 8 out of the 10 students had a negative opinion on the

course, the most common response being the class was uninteresting due to the boring traditional

classroom mode of teaching. The students were then put into groups and assigned to photograph

organic life and ecology. By the end of the experiment, Peng and Chen interview 10 new

students, this time they received positive feedback. The students shared the class helped them

reconsider organic life and health and some reported they got a better understanding of creativity

and imagination. Their experiment shows how photography positively effected teaching,

allowing students to communicate with each other and communicate their understanding of the

learning material. It is important to encourage class participation because teaching and learning

are crucial to succeed in life, as is communication. This is further proved by Sherwyn Morreale

when he conducted a study to show the relationship between communication and teaching.

Morreale shares “that communication instruction should be a part of general education curricula,
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because it is key to preparing students to be engaged and productive citizens in today’s world.”

(Morreale, 403). Morreale proves this by collecting and analyzing 679 documents about

communication education, he noticed common themes discussed the most common being 46%

of the documents claiming communication education enhances organizational processes.

Morreale deems this important because he see organizational skills “a key factor in determining

the short and long-term success” (Morreale, 407).

Another way photography has helped in encouraging people to communicate with one

another is in therapy. Judith Kuster informs how art in general can be used to help people, who

cannot easily communicate, share their feelings. “Visual art can communicate in ways words

cannot” (Kuster, 38). This shows how art can be used as a universal language. For example,

Kuster shares that art can be used as therapy allowing people to communicate important

information and help relieve overwhelming emotions. Kuster continues by stating “Art

therapy… uses the creative process to improve and enhance the physical, mental, and emotional

well-being of individuals” (Kuster, 38). Photography has also helped bring awareness to

different issues as talked about in Snapshot: communicating compassion through photography

by Spencer Hurt. Hurt tells a story about photojournalist Theresa Frare and her experience

photography a man with AIDS. Frare takes what is described as a haunting picture of a young

man dying of AIDS, Frare then sends the picture to different magazines. The image was then

published in LIFE magazine and continued to a world press photo award, this brought lots of

attention to issues surrounding the illness. Many people felt gratitude for the photojournalist as it
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helped others feel accepted or find resources available to them that they did not know were

available. This goes to show how influential and important photography is in communicating.

Methods

My primary research included conducting 6 interviews. In my interviews I asked various

questions to learn people’s opinion on the effectiveness of communication in photography. The

purpose of this was to gain direct insight on an audience’s perspective on photography being

used to communicate, opposed to my secondary research which focuses on examples of

photography being used to communicate. The goal for my primary research was to learn what

about photography makes it an effective tool for communication. With the results from my

interviews, I analyzed the key words used, to find similarity and overlap. The most common

words used revealed what people believe is the leading factors in which makes photography

successful in communicating. The people I chose to interview all had some sort of artistic

background, whether that being a singular art class in middle school or pursuing art as a career.

My questions (Q) and responses (R) included:

Q1: Do you think photography can be an effective medium of communication? Why or why not?

R1:  I think photography can be an effective way of communicating because it allows the

artist to convey a message without using words. Being able to see the emotions through a

photograph makes the message hit harder than just reading about it on paper. A photograph can

contain a million different messages that would be impossible to put into words.

R2: Yes, a picture can say a thousand words. A photo can convey mood and feeling.
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R3: I do think photography can be an effective form of communication. I think

photography can speak more than words can sometimes. When someone tells a story the

emotions and expressions cannot always be properly expressed. When someone sees a photo,

they can understand so much more of the feeling and emotions of the people in the picture. As

many say, a picture can speak a thousand words.

R4: I do believe that photography can be a very effective medium of communication

because it can paint a picture in a way that words might not be able to describe. Which makes it

unique and impactful.

R5: I believe photography can be an effective medium of communication because

photography has the able to control the emotions of the viewer. Different angles of the same

photo can tell many different stories and it is up the photographer to choose a photo based on

what they are trying to express.

Q2: In your opinion What makes an effective photograph?

R1: I think the most effective part of a photograph is the subject. A good photograph is

able to capture the emotions on a person's face and makes what that person is feeling

immediately recognizable. 

R2; lighting, a clear image (or not clear), movement, what is going on in the background

and more can lead to an effective image.

R3: An effective photograph gets across the message the artist wants to get across. An

effective photograph makes the audience feel something even if that feeling is just “oh I like the
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way this looks.” Photographs can make the audience understand more about a situation than they

could ever know, and I think relaying this message or this feeling can make an image effective.

R4: If it can tell a clear story to those who perceive it.

R5: An effective photograph Is made when it causes the viewing to think and feel

something, maybe not the same feelings or views but if requires discussion I believe it is

effective.

Q3: Do you think storytelling in photography is important? Why or why not?

R1: didn’t answer the question...

R2: it can be, depends on what the photography is being used for, but a photo can

absolutely tell a story.

R3: I think storytelling is important and one of the best features of photography, but it is

not always necessary. I think it’s okay for photos to simply be visually appealing because they

can always still evoke emotion in the viewer, and I think that is what is important.

R4: Yes, because it can help elevate a photo to a higher degree of understanding.

R5: I believe storytelling in photography is important because when we convey stories

about other people places or things it helps to reflect and understand ourselves more.

Q4: The following photograph is from American photographer Dorothea Lange titled Migrant

Mother, the image was taken during the Great Depression to symbolize the poverty experience

during that time. Do you think this image effectively shows Lange’s intended purpose? Why or

why not?
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R1: I think the photo perfectly serves its purpose. You can see the rips and dirt on the

clothing and the way the children are clinging onto the mother. You can easily tell that the

mother in the photo is exhausted and sad without even having to look closely.

R2: it is a photo that has a feeling of sorrow or futility. Yes, I could see this photo

symbolizing the plight of those living through the depression.

R3: This image was taken as a way to tell this family’s story in the great depression. I

think the artists message got across because in this image we can see the family’s emotions

clearly on their faces. We can see the conditions they are in and what they feel even though we

may never actually be able to experience or understand what they went through. This image tells

us more than words because it shows us rather than tells us. I think this was Langes intent.

R4: Yes, I believe it shows Lange’s intended purpose because it shows just how she felt

and what she was going through all the while feeling natural.

R5: I believe the photo Migrant Mother does showcase the intended purpose which was

to symbolize the poverty experience during the Great Depression. It showcases this by centering

a mother’s painful expression in the center of the photo while being surrounded by something

that show bring her joy- her children. Instead of feeling this joy of family she is too focused on

the struggle of providing for them.

Q5: The following photograph was taken by American photojournalist William Eugene Smith,

the image is of WW2 marine drinking from his canteen. What do you think Smith’s goal was

with photo? Did he achieve that goal? Why or why not?

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R1: I think Smith's goal with his photograph was to show the difficulties of war and the

toll it took on the soldiers. You can see the dirt on the soldier's face and the way the soldier in the

background is fully alert while he drinks. The main soldier in the photo looks tired and hot. Even

in black and white, you can see the brightness of the sky and see how tiring it must be.

R2: To me he is showing the hard work that the marine has been doing to get to that

point, perhaps he is thinking about the work ahead as well as he looks into the distance.

R3: I think his goal was to once again tell a story of the conditions and life of a soldier in

this time. I think he achieved this goal by giving us a peek at the lives of soldiers during World

War 2 that we would never see normally. Although this image is of something maybe mundane,

like simply drinking from a canteen, it can evoke emotions that we wouldn’t normally get from

someone just telling us this.

R4: His goal was likely to show the life of a soldier, and how they live their day to day, in

an unimpeded and natural way.

R5: I believe the goal of the photo was to symbolize in the war that even while seemingly

not fighting and doing a mundane task such as drinking water the men always had to be on guard

and ready to fight. I believe the goal was achieved since the main solider symbolizes doing a

mundane task and the second soldier guarding him symbolizes how the men were always on

guard.

Results

The answers showed most people think the leading cause for the success of

communication in photography is when the image evokes emotion. This is shown in interviews

1,2,3, and 5. They believe when a photograph evokes emotions, it put the viewer in the shoes of
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the photographer or in the scene of the photo. When a photographer can bring up emotions it

makes the viewer feel connected to the image, sometimes letting the viewer come up with a story

themselves of why the photographer chose to educe a specific emotion. All 5 interviews said

they believe storytelling is important in photography, however responses 2 and 3 do not always

believe it is important or necessary to tell a story. More words…

Discussions and implications

I think storytelling is so important, giving people a voice to inspire, teach, or influence.

As someone who is a visual learner, I find it difficult to engage in text or oral storytelling alone,

but the second I see a photograph, I can picture the scenario and I feel like I am living in that

moment, like the story finally makes sense, so learning how to successful present a photograph

so it properly tells a story is essential. Knowing how to correctly use the elements and principle

of design allows you to create the best piece possible. Learning about different career paths that

use photograph as their main source of communication will bring crucial insight into the world

of storytelling through images. More words…

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Worked Cited

Carr, Julie Palakovich. “Science Photography: Communicating Research through Photos. (Cover

Story).” BioScience, vol. 62, no. 5, May 2012, pp. 458–59. EBSCOhost,

https://doi.org/10.1525/bio.2012.62.5.5.

Hurt, Spencer. “Snapshot: Communicating Compassion through Photography.” Harvard

International Review, vol. 40, no. 2, 2019, pp. 28–31,

web.p.ebscohost.com/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?vid=0&sid=3208061c-9d31-49f1-9f18-

c6c1090c3c07%40redis.

Kuster, Judith. Communicating through Art. vol. 12, no. 10, Aug. 2007, p. 38,

web.p.ebscohost.com/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?vid=6&sid=aa88145f-8317-4c48-9039-

355d5fb541e1%40redis.

Morreale, Sherwyn P., et al. “Why Communication Education Is Important: A Third Study on

the Centrality of the Discipline’s Content and Pedagogy.” Communication Education,

vol. 66, no. 4, Oct. 2017, pp. 402–22. EBSCOhost,

https://doi.org/10.1080/03634523.2016.1265136.

Peng, Li-Hsun, and Sieng-Hou Chen. “Integrating Creative Photography Pedagogy in General

Education.” Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences, vol. 217, Feb. 2016, pp. 183–91,

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sbspro.2016.02.060.

Shyamsundar, Bhavana. "Photography." Crit, no. 82, 2018, pp. 37-39. ProQuest,

https://www.proquest.com/scholarly-journals/photography/docview/2092794065/se-2.
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