Criticizing Photography

The reading by Terry Barrett is more or less an overview of the theoretical positions about photography that are found today. The article is broken up into discussions on Realism and Conventionalism, Modernism and Postmodernism, Marxist Theory and Criticism, and Feminist Theory and Criticism. All of these theoretical positions are found mixed throughout photography, some add to other theories and some will always oppose them. This article and these different theories help one understand the purposes behind these different types of photographs and gives insight to their historical connection. My particular favorite was the discussion of Realism and Conventionalism and the discussion of the trustworthiness of a photograph. It made me wonder if with the easy access of photoshop today do people still view photographs as trustworthy.