Roland Barthes creates theory of photographic meaning that makes a distinction between the studium and the punctum and highlights the punctum as photography-specific.
The studium indicates historical, social or cultural meanings extracted via semiotic analysis. For example, the photograph taken by Diane Arbus in New York City in 1962 is portraying a little boy, tensely holding his thin arms by his by his side with the right hand he clenched a toy grenade and with his left hand is held in a claw-like gesture. This image captured by Diane Arbus could be interpreted as a presence of the historic transition from the complacent isolationism of the 1950s to the socio-political turmoil or it could be just display of foolish behaviour and primal violence.
The punctum points to those features of a photograph that seem to produce or convey a meaning without invoking any recognizable symbolic system. This kind of meaning is unique to the response of the individual viewer of the image. For example, when I am looking at this photograph of little boy holding toy grenade, it makes me wonder why is he holding it? Is there any specific reason? Is that just silly behaviour or is that reflection of society?
Moreover, when I am looking at this image the fat that jumps of in my mind is why this boy facial expression is so maniacal? Where that all anger coming from such a young and innocent boy? Why he chose to be photographed with facial expression? A smallest detail in the image makes you ask thousand and thousand questions, which you could interpret in your own way. I think this is what makes photography so special and unique, because images talks for itself.
A photograph communicates with audience visually by making them question why? Ability to use Roland Barthes theory of photographic meaning helps us to look at the images from a closer angle and interpret images in viewers own way. Everyone of us has different understanding about the life, has different culture, so even the same images I have chosen it would be interpret it contradictorily by other individual.
Contextual Studies 