Every Picture Tells a Story

I write this because I have been observing a certain pattern on how people view art.

In my mind, this is a continuation of my thoughts about capturing people in their candid moments.  (See Bitterblue.)  In this picture, one can imagine that the ladies are grilling the gentleman with tons of questions and complaints.  The woman on the right looks very concerned.  What was it that she was concerned about?  The man's eyes are closed as though trying to process everything that he is hearing.  Notice too the slight smirk on the woman in the middle.  What is she thinking?  It looks as though she's getting quite a satisfaction from this whole transaction. Was this what really happened?  I don't really know even though I was there.  As an amateur photographer, my concentration was focused in getting the right exposure and composition.  What attracted me to this scene was that it looked like it had a good story, whatever that may be.  It didn't matter for me what it was.  I felt that I could fill in the blanks later on depending on how the picture comes out. And if I could put myself in that imaginative mindset, I know others will as long as the picture is dramatic enough to draw emotion.  This is to me the magic of photography that I really like.

In my previous post, I refused to pigeonhole photography in the field of journalism.  It doesn't have to be representationally true.  If we are to consider photography as art, then its purpose can be also symbolic.  If we can see that art can go beyond representation, then I think we do not have to agree with the agenda of the artist yet appreciate the artwork at face value.