Contemporary photography as a discursive and / or narrative device

Abstract

This article proposes to examine the discursive and/ or the narrative ability involving the photographic images, more specifically, the contemporary ones. Following Barthes’ framework, this examination accounts for the linguistic nature of photographic images in terms of their two-folded aspect as connotative image and denotative image in which any image is closely connected with the cultural context. In this sense, other concepts and authors such as Jean-Marie Schaeffer, Philippe Dubois, Régis Durand, Victor Burgin and Martine Joly have also been considered in order to broaden the discussion. Thus, this article conveys, following Jacques Aumont, in its broader sense, the narrative structure as well as its particular aspects which, in turn, may facilitate their incorporation into contemporary photographic practice.