How to Do Things with Pictures

The article How to Do Things with Pictures presents an interesting peculiarity of photographs resulting from their perceived reliability as a means of objective representation. The view of the role of the photograph in this article is as a tool of communication that doesn't stand alone, but is akin to a part of speech used in a broader narrative. Emphasis is placed on the context of the image as a signifier as to the message that is being conveyed. For example, in a world where natural forms are repetitive and ubiquitous, the caption of image is greatly influential as a definition of what is being seen in particular. Furthermore, the type of publication in which an image is found can have effects for the viewer, ranging from credibility if found in a newspaper, but can arouse skepticism if found in a tabloid magazine or propaganda material. This view of the photograph is consistent with Roland Barthes' structuralist interpretation of authorship and viewership, where the literary importance of a work is dependent on its relation to the viewer's historical and existential personal experience.

The article also deals extensively with the subject of falsehood within photography. One of the stipulations of photography's dependence on context to be understood is that a photograph with false context can be misleading by means of portraying something different than what is described, though the photograph may be unaltered in any way. Conversely, photographs that have been altered are also misleading if they are placed in a context that implies factual accuracy, such as a news program. Political propaganda most frequently operates in this way for purposes of ideological expediency or orthodoxy, and the author necessarily intends to deceive since he has knowledge of it's falsehood. On the other hand, altered photographs placed in a context where they are known to be false (such as being accompanied by a disclaimer) serve as works of fiction instead of forgery, and become useful for their allegorical or thematic qualities outside of the bounds of reportage.