Between writing that sentence and this one, it has been something like five weeks. Damn.So, the next couple of posts are going to be the entire course since then, condensed into nuggets.
Photography is put forward as evidence, as proof, because it is the visual evidence we seek. Because it involves mechanical reproduction, unlike drawings or text, it is somehow more real. People more profound than I (and there are a few, as hard as you may find that to believe: your homework is to find one) have written about the relationship between the image and the real: just watch the special features of The Matrix; or take intro Phil (into an empty bathroom and introduce him to the ways of... sorry, different intro Phil) and read Plato's allegory of the cave; or consult just about anything written while smoking Gallois cigarettes.
Essentially, what is photographed, what is framed by the sides of the image, what is left outside the frame, how focus is drawn, the level of 'staging': all these are questions dealing with the ostensible objectivity of the photograph.
So a photograph is subjective? Big deal. The solution is adverting to the fact that the photographer - i.e. you, when you take pictures - is making conscious decisions about the subject matter, and is not a mere conduit for neutral information. Therefore, explain the decision-making process, which means explain the reason you took the photograph the way you did, and explain the context in which the photo was taken.
Lastly, the photograph is not sufficient on its own to explain something. As the photographer (the ethnographic photographer, that is: I don't care what you do with snapshots or if you've been subjected to art photography classes) you have to provide information about the contents: who are the participants, where and when did it take place, and any other extraneous information.
Here is the photography assignment handout as a pdf (since it has images, it's larger than usual).
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