TAXONOMY OF PHOTO CATEGORIES

Abstract

Selecting photographs for teaching photo criticism can be a difficult task. This research aims to construct the taxonomy of photo categories for teaching purposes and teaching guidelines. This research used a questionnaire and a semi-structured interview with 125 participants made up of 39 male and 86 female, 94 Malays, 12 Chinese, 16 Indians and 3 Ibans. All participants exposed to five different photographs: advertising photographs, journalistic photographs, landscapes, and two fine arts photographs. We used three questions as research instruments for 125 participants to judge each photo: What do you see? What does it mean? How do you know? Also, we used Barrett's criticism models to teach, make a rubric, and evaluate the photographs and our research instruments. From our photo teaching experience, combined with this research, students usually started from low taxonomies. They followed through to high taxonomies, or in a sequence from advertising photographs, journalistic photographs, and landscapes (fine art) to modernist photographs and postmodernist photographs (fine art). They did not have difficulty interpreting elements, design principles, and photo techniques, but they did construct it challenging to analyze the context of postmodern photographs, especially gender issues.