Understanding the photographic image

This article elaborates on Barlow's distinction between images before the e ye (pictures) and images behind the eye (mental images). The key focus of t his article is on representational competence with respect to the common pr operties of pictures and, in particular, photographs. Despite a number of t heoretical proposals to account for aspects of photographic understanding, no comprehensive or integrated theory at present claims any consensus. By t he nature and variety of photographic practices, it is unlikely that there soon will be.