Analyzing a photograph involves more than studying its visual details. To get the most out it, historians need to keep in mind its historical and technical background, as well as the personal context of its photographer. While these truisms are quite obvious, I began to question them after reading Errol Morris’ Believing is Seeing (Observations on the Mysteries of Photography).
What makes Morris’ book so effective at bringing into question my old assumptions about photography is how effectively he uses his dogged focus on photographic detail. My favorite example of this is in chapter one, where he writes, [the need to give photographs intentions] led me to a more general question: would it be possible to order these photographs based on evidence in the photographs themselves? (page 20)