--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: The photograph is an incomplete…" description: "\"The photograph is an incomplete utterance, a message that depends on some external matrix of conditions and presuppositions for its readability.\" — All..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a98/allan-sekula-48287_conditions_the-photograph-is-an-incomplete-utteranc_2941696.jpg" --- # The photograph is an incomplete utterance, a message that… ![“The photograph is an incomplete utterance, a message that depends on some external matrix of conditions and presuppositions for its readability.” quote by Allan Sekula](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a98/allan-sekula-48287_conditions_the-photograph-is-an-incomplete-utteranc_2941696.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a98/allan-sekula-48287_conditions_the-photograph-is-an-incomplete-utteranc_2941696.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a98/allan-sekula-48287_conditions_the-photograph-is-an-incomplete-utteranc_2941696.jpg) > “The photograph is an incomplete utterance, a message that depends on some external matrix of conditions and presuppositions for its readability.” [Allan Sekula](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/allan-sekula/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. A photograph conveys meaning only when viewed within its broader context and assumptions. **In simple terms:** Photos need context to be understood. Key Takeaway Consider context when interpreting images. Themes art interpretation context Mood analytical curious Type critical educational When to use this quote - journalism - exhibitions - education - media analysis Key Concepts semiotics visual culture Questions to Reflect On - What assumptions shape your reading of an image? - How does context alter meaning? A Different Perspective Context may be inaccessible, limiting understanding. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Conditions](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/conditions/) [Depends](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/depends/) [Incomplete](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/incomplete/) [Incomplete Utterance](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/incomplete-utterance-4388696/) [Message Depends](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/message-depends-4388698/) [Messages](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/messages/) [Photograph](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/photograph/) [Photograph Incomplete](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/photograph-incomplete-4388695/) [Photography](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/photography/) [Utterance](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/utterance/) [Utterance Message](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/utterance-message-4388697/) ## Related quotes > [Nero wasn't worried at all when he heard the utterance of the Delphic Oracle: "Beware the age of seventy-three." Plenty of time to enjoy…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/c-p-cavafy/nero-wasn-t-worried-at-all-when-he-heard-the-utterance-of-the-delphic/) [C.P. Cavafy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/c-p-cavafy/) > [Sinning persons are just like this boy who fell into the drain. Now, high or low, upgraded or degraded, all are equal. All are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/prabhat-ranjan-sarkar/sinning-persons-are-just-like-this-boy-who-fell-into-the-drain-now/) [Prabhat Ranjan Sarkar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/prabhat-ranjan-sarkar/) > [It is true that some secluded intellectuals in their esoteric circles talk differently. They proclaim the priority of what they call eternal absolute values…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ludwig-von-mises/it-is-true-that-some-secluded-intellectuals-in-their-esoteric-circles/) [Ludwig von Mises](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ludwig-von-mises/) > [We were not meant to mask ourselves before our fellow-beings, but to be, through our human forms, true and clear utterances of the spirit…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lucy-larcom/we-were-not-meant-to-mask-ourselves-before-our-fellow-beings-but-to/) [Lucy Larcom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lucy-larcom/) > [Sitting over words Very late I have heard a kind of whispered sighing Not far Like a night wind in pines or like the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/sitting-over-words-very-late-i-have-heard-a-kind-of-whispered-sighing/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Utterance of a negative tongue, will never promote a truthful mind.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alyssa-tillmon/utterance-of-a-negative-tongue-will-never-promote-a-truthful-mind/) [Alyssa Tillmon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alyssa-tillmon/) > [Power is being able to say complete and utter nonsense and have it be believed, powerlessness is where no matter how much cogent evidence…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/catharine-mackinnon/power-is-being-able-to-say-complete-and-utter-nonsense-and-have-it-be/) [Catharine MacKinnon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/catharine-mackinnon/) > [What sort of man is this, who over and over again, gave numerous details about His death, months before it occurred, and added to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wilbur-moorehead-smith/what-sort-of-man-is-this-who-over-and-over-again-gave-numerous/) [Wilbur Moorehead Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wilbur-moorehead-smith/) > [Do not let the loud utterances of your own wills anticipate, nor drown, the still, small voice in which God speaks. Bridle impatience till…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexander-maclaren/do-not-let-the-loud-utterances-of-your-own-wills-anticipate-nor-drown/) [Alexander MacLaren](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexander-maclaren/) > [I have opposed the Communist cold war line ever since, both by public utterance and by private help to trade unionists breaking free from…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/earl-browder/i-have-opposed-the-communist-cold-war-line-ever-since-both-by-public/) [Earl Browder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/earl-browder/) > [Let us rise in the moral power of womanhood; and give utterance to the voice of outraged mercy, and insulted justice, and eternal truth,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maria-weston-chapman/let-us-rise-in-the-moral-power-of-womanhood-and-give-utterance-to-the/) [Maria Weston Chapman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maria-weston-chapman/) > [WHEN reading my present treatise, bear in mind that by "faith" we do not understand merely that which is uttered with the lips, but…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maimonides/when-reading-my-present-treatise-bear-in-mind-that-by-faith-we-do-not/) [Maimonides](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maimonides/) > [Stick to what's in front of you - idea, action, utterance.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcus-aurelius/stick-to-what-s-in-front-of-you-idea-action-utterance/) [Marcus Aurelius](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcus-aurelius/) > [Most poetry is the utterance of a man in some state of passion, love, joy, grief, rage, etc., and no doubt this is as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-h-auden/most-poetry-is-the-utterance-of-a-man-in-some-state-of-passion-love/) [W. H. Auden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-h-auden/) > [Thus poetry, regarded as a vehicle of thought, is especially impressive partly because it obeys all the laws of effective speech, and partly because…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herbert-spencer/thus-poetry-regarded-as-a-vehicle-of-thought-is-especially-impressive/) [Herbert Spencer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herbert-spencer/) ## More by Allan Sekula > [How does photography serve to legitimate and normalize existing power relationships? ... How is historical and social memory preserved, transformed, restricted and obliterated by photographs?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/allan-sekula/how-does-photography-serve-to-legitimate-and-normalize-existing-power/) [Allan Sekula](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/allan-sekula/) > [Photography promises an enhanced mastery of nature, but photography also threatens conflagration and anarchy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/allan-sekula/photography-promises-an-enhanced-mastery-of-nature-but-photography/) [Allan Sekula](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/allan-sekula/) > [Black-and-white photos tell the truth. That's why insurance companies use them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/allan-sekula/black-and-white-photos-tell-the-truth-that-s-why-insurance-companies/) [Allan Sekula](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/allan-sekula/) > [Documentary photography has amassed mountains of evidence. And yet... the genre has simultaneously contributed much to spectacle, to retinal excitation, to voyeurism, to terror,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/allan-sekula/documentary-photography-has-amassed-mountains-of-evidence-and-yet-the/) [Allan Sekula](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/allan-sekula/) > [The making of a human likeness on film is a political act.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/allan-sekula/the-making-of-a-human-likeness-on-film-is-a-political-act/) [Allan Sekula](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/allan-sekula/) > [Documentary is thought to be art when it transcends its reference to the world, when the work can be regarded, first and foremost, as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/allan-sekula/documentary-is-thought-to-be-art-when-it-transcends-its-reference-to/) [Allan Sekula](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/allan-sekula/) > [The only objective truth that photographs offer is the assertion that somebody or something... was somewhere and took a picture.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/allan-sekula/the-only-objective-truth-that-photographs-offer-is-the-assertion-that/) [Allan Sekula](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/allan-sekula/) [Explore all 8 Allan Sekula quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/allan-sekula/) ## More Conditions quotes > [One can put some trust in the gratitude of a sovereign, and also in that of his family; under certain conditions, one can even…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/otto-von-bismarck/one-can-put-some-trust-in-the-gratitude-of-a-sovereign-and-also-in/) [Otto von Bismarck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/otto-von-bismarck/) > [Most celebrated men live in a condition of prostitution.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-augustin-sainte-beuve/most-celebrated-men-live-in-a-condition-of-prostitution/) [Charles Augustin Sainte-Beuve](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-augustin-sainte-beuve/) > [It's easier to change a law than an age-old mentality. Deep down, many prejudices, many hostilities, many fears persist. But if we take a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dacia-maraini/it-s-easier-to-change-a-law-than-an-age-old-mentality-deep-down-many/) [Dacia Maraini](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dacia-maraini/) > [I can still function when I don't have that balance I crave. I had a tendency to be precious about acting, thinking of it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laura-regan/i-can-still-function-when-i-don-t-have-that-balance-i-crave-i-had-a/) [Laura Regan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laura-regan/) > [History is, in its essentials, the science of change. It knows and it teaches that it is impossible to find two events that are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marc-bloch/history-is-in-its-essentials-the-science-of-change-it-knows-and-it/) [Marc Bloch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marc-bloch/) > [The average condition of the people improving or deteriorating, depends upon whether population is advancing faster than improvement, or improvement than population.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-stuart-mill/the-average-condition-of-the-people-improving-or-deteriorating/) [John Stuart Mill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-stuart-mill/) > [A good aim surveys the present state of experience of pupils, and forming a tentative plan of treatment, keeps the plan constantly in view…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-dewey/a-good-aim-surveys-the-present-state-of-experience-of-pupils-and/) [John Dewey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-dewey/) > [The God in whose hands are all our days and ways, did cast into my hand one day a book of Martin Luthers; it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-bunyan/the-god-in-whose-hands-are-all-our-days-and-ways-did-cast-into-my/) [John Bunyan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-bunyan/) > [It clearly follows that to make men moral it is necessary to make their social environment moral. And that can be done in only…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mikhail-bakunin/it-clearly-follows-that-to-make-men-moral-it-is-necessary-to-make/) [Mikhail Bakunin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mikhail-bakunin/) > [Importunity is a condition of prayer. We are to press the matter, not with vain repetitions, but with urgent repetitions. We repeat, not to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-mckendree-bounds/importunity-is-a-condition-of-prayer-we-are-to-press-the-matter-not/) [Edward McKendree Bounds](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-mckendree-bounds/) > [The so-called evils are evils only in relation to a certain thing, and that which is evil in relation to a certain existing thing,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maimonides/the-so-called-evils-are-evils-only-in-relation-to-a-certain-thing-and/) [Maimonides](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maimonides/) > [Experiences in order to be educative must lead out into an expanding world of subject matter, a subject matter of facts or information and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-dewey/experiences-in-order-to-be-educative-must-lead-out-into-an-expanding/) [John Dewey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-dewey/) > [A social group can, indeed must, already exercise 'leadership' before winning governmental power (this is indeed one of the principal conditions for the winning…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/antonio-gramsci/a-social-group-can-indeed-must-already-exercise-leadership-before/) [Antonio Gramsci](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/antonio-gramsci/) > [I'm a Christian because Christianity names and addresses sin. It acknowledges the reality that the evil we observe in the world is also present…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rachel-held-evans/i-m-a-christian-because-christianity-names-and-addresses-sin-it/) [Rachel Held Evans](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rachel-held-evans/) > [Changes in human conditions are brought about by the pioneering of the cleverest and most energetic men. They take the lead and the rest…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ludwig-von-mises/changes-in-human-conditions-are-brought-about-by-the-pioneering-of/) [Ludwig von Mises](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ludwig-von-mises/) [Browse all 4,249 Conditions quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/conditions/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "The photograph is an incomplete utterance, a message that depends on some external matrix of conditions and presuppositions for its readability.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Allan Sekula" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/allan-sekula/the-photograph-is-an-incomplete-utterance-a-message-that-depends-on/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Conditions" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/allan-sekula/the-photograph-is-an-incomplete-utterance-a-message-that-depends-on/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a98/allan-sekula-48287_conditions_the-photograph-is-an-incomplete-utteranc_2941696.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a98/allan-sekula-48287_conditions_the-photograph-is-an-incomplete-utteranc_2941696.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a98/allan-sekula-48287_conditions_the-photograph-is-an-incomplete-utteranc_2941696.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“The photograph is an incomplete utterance, a message that depends on some external matrix of conditions and…” — Allan Sekula", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Allan Sekula", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/allan-sekula/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "The photograph is an incomplete utterance,...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/allan-sekula/the-photograph-is-an-incomplete-utterance-a-message-that-depends-on/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/allan-sekula/the-photograph-is-an-incomplete-utterance-a-message-that-depends-on/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```