Having explicated his classification scheme, Barrett proceeds in Chapter 5 to explain that without prior knowledge it is often difficult for the average viewer to place any one photograph in one of his six categories (which we will recall are: descriptive, explanatory, interpretive, ethically evaluative, aesthetically evaluative, and theoretical). This contextual information can be internal, original, or external.
Internal context is provided by the photograph’s subject, medium, form, and the relationship between them. Barrett cites the rather obvious example of one of Edward Weston’s peppers. We understand the pepper is displayed as an object of aesthetic appreciation, rather than as a botanical description. (If we know something about the photographer and his work (an example of original context), this interpretation is even more obvious.)
