Analysing a photograph with Foss and Stern
Every question has two halves: what the theorist means by a term, and how it applies to your chosen photograph. Answering only the second half is the most common way marks are lost here.
Editorial process
Last reviewed · August 15, 2026
Two theorists, six questions, 75 to 100 words each
Look at the shape of each question rather than at its topic. Every one asks what a theorist means by a term and then what that term picks out in your image — what does Stern mean by describing a photograph, and what is the most important aspect of this one to describe; what does Foss mean by technical novelty, and what in this photo illustrates it. Both halves are graded, and answers that leap straight to the image lose the conceptual half every time. At 75 to 100 words each, that means roughly forty words defining and forty applying, which is tight enough that the definition has to be exact rather than approximate. Choosing your image well matters too: pick one with enough formal incident to sustain six separate readings rather than the one you find most affecting. A photograph you like is not necessarily one that has six things to say about it.
Foss's three concepts are the harder half and they build on each other, which is why the brief asks about them in that order. Technical novelty is a departure from the expected conventions of the medium — an unusual angle, exposure, focus or crop that makes the viewer notice the photograph as a made object. Decontextualisation removes the subject from its ordinary setting, which strips away the associations that would normally tell you how to feel. Re-placement then puts the image into a new but familiar context, giving it a positive association that resolves the tension the first two created. Explaining that arc as a sequence rather than as three independent terms is what demonstrates you have read Foss rather than a glossary, and the brief's own wording — that re-placement resolves the tension — tells you it wants the sequence rather than three definitions delivered in a row.
Likely learning objectives
Inferred from the brief — check these against your own rubric.
- 01Define visual rhetorical concepts precisely from the assigned theorists.
- 02Apply each concept to a specific photograph rather than to photography generally.
- 03Explain Foss's three concepts as a connected sequence.
Read the full question
Review every instruction before using the planning guidance that follows.
Course-wide instructions that accompany this question
You must proofread your paper. But do not strictly rely on your computer’s spell-checker and grammar-checker; failure to do so indicates a lack of effort on your part and you can expect your grade to suffer accordingly. Papers with numerous misspelled words and grammatical mistakes will be penalized. Read over your paper – in silence and then aloud – before handing it in and make corrections as necessary. Often it is advantageous to have a friend proofread your paper for obvious errors. Handwritten corrections are preferable to uncorrected mistakes. Use a standard 10 to 12 point (10 to 12 characters per inch) typeface. Smaller or compressed type and papers with small margins or single-spacing are hard to read. It is better to let your essay run over the recommended number of pages than to try to compress it into fewer pages. Likewise, large type, large margins, large indentations, triple-spacing, increased leading (space between lines), increased kerning (space between letters), and any other such attempts at “padding” to increase the length of a paper are unacceptable, wasteful of trees, and will not fool your professor. The paper must be neatly formatted, double-spaced with a one-inch margin on the top, bottom, and sides of each page. When submitting hard copy, be sure to use white paper and print out using dark ink. If it is hard to read your essay, it will also be hard to follow your argument.
Turn the brief into deliverables
- 01Six responses of 75-100 words each.
- 02A definition and an application in every response.
- 03Sources indicated in each response, as the brief requires.
- 04The chosen image identified and submitted with the answers.
Stern's description, then Foss's three concepts
Choose the image deliberately
Select the photograph with enough formal and contextual incident to sustain six distinct answers.
Stern on describing
Define what description means for Stern, then name the most important aspect of this image to describe.
Stern on emotional impact and story
Explain what Stern says matters about emotional impact and narrative, then apply both.
Foss: novelty and decontextualisation
Define each and identify what in the photograph illustrates them.
Foss: re-placement and resolution
Explain how re-placement resolves the tension created by the first two concepts.
Working from the assigned readings only
Recommended databases
- The assigned Foss and Stern readings
- The attached American Photo Album excerpt
- Communication & Mass Media Complete
- JSTOR
- Your module materials on visual rhetoric
Search sequence
- 1.Work from the assigned readings themselves; the questions are written against their specific wording.
- 2.Note each theorist's exact definition before drafting, since forty words leaves no room to approximate.
- 3.Read all five images in the excerpt before choosing, rather than taking the first.
- 4.Record page references as you go, since each response must indicate its source.
Reference shortlist
These are authoritative starting points, not a ready-made bibliography. A qualified reviewer must confirm that each source fits the assignment and supports the claim beside which it is cited.
Nothing here is cleared for citation until you have read it.
- 01
Yale Film Analysis Guide
Yale University · 2024
A reference account of how framing, composition and technical choices carry meaning, which supports the technical novelty answer.
- 02
Information Technology and Moral Values
Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy · 2018
A model of defining a specialist term precisely before applying it, which is the structure each of these six answers needs.
- 03
About Adverse Childhood Experiences
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention · 2024
Useful where the chosen photograph carries social content, giving documented context rather than assumed context.
- 04
Wealth Inequality
Pew Research Center · 2024
Background for reading an American documentary photograph's social setting from evidence rather than impression.
Review before submission
Common mistakes
- Applying the concept without first defining it, which forfeits half of each answer.
- Treating Foss's three concepts as unrelated terms rather than as a sequence.
- Choosing an image with too little formal incident to support six readings.
- Omitting the source attribution the brief asks for in each response.
Submission checklist
- Does every answer define the term before applying it?
- Are the answers within 75-100 words each?
- Is the Foss arc explained as a sequence?
- Is a source indicated in each individual response?
Use this guide to plan and review your own work. Follow your institution's rules and read our academic-integrity policy.
Written by
Aaron Bishop
MA, Education
assignment interpretation and research-methods coaching across disciplines
Aaron leads the EssayCrackers editorial desk. He works on how assignment briefs are read — what a rubric is actually asking for, and where students most often answer a different question than the one set.
Reviewed by
Dr. Nathan Cole
PhD, Rhetoric & Composition
Argumentation and thesis development
Nathan teaches first-year composition and directs a university writing center. He reviews EssayCrackers guides for argumentative soundness and citation accuracy.