Howard S. Becker Quote

For any picture, ask yourself what question or questions it might be answering. Since the picture could answer many, questions, we can decide what question we are interested in. The picture will, of course, suggest that some questions are likely to find answers in it. For instance, Owens's pictures of pantries and refrigerators clearly suggest that they will answer questions about what kinds of food the inhabitants of the houses store and presumably eat, while other pictures in Suburbia suggest that they will answer other questions about the housekeeping arrangements of these people.


Howard Becker (1974). "Art as Collective Action." American Sociological Review 39:767-76.


For any picture, ask yourself what question or questions it might be answering. Since the picture could answer many, questions, we can decide what...

For any picture, ask yourself what question or questions it might be answering. Since the picture could answer many, questions, we can decide what...

For any picture, ask yourself what question or questions it might be answering. Since the picture could answer many, questions, we can decide what...

For any picture, ask yourself what question or questions it might be answering. Since the picture could answer many, questions, we can decide what...