When a photographer takes a photograph he or she makes a selection of visual information that is determined by his or her technical and aesthetic skills personal views and experience together with a set of social and cultural norms And in the course of this book we shall see how these factors not only affect the style content and expression of a photograph but also how those images are perceived and responded to by the viewer For example we might consider that the casual reader of a newspaper will have an implicit understanding of the photographic images reproduced on the page But rather than accepting the photograph at face value we might question whether it accurately recorded the scene as it would have looked at the time Or in contrast does it communicate the photographers point of view Is it the precise instant recorded that is of particular importance or should the photograph on the page be understood as a symbol to represent a state of affairs in the world