This article describes six types of photographs: (1) descriptive; (2) explanatory; (3) interpretive; (4) ethically evaluative; (5) aesthetically evaluative; and (6) theoretical. Notes that these categories overlap and that a photograph will fit into several categories simultaneously. (JDH)

Past categorizations of photographs are critiqued, and a new category system is offered that asks viewers to consider photographs as if they were analogous to various types of language statements: descriptive, explanatory, interpretive, ethically evaluative, aesthetically evaluative, and theoretical. (Author/RM)