effects that fetish and fetishism have on the viewer of a visual image. Photographs are more likely to work as a fetish due to their smallness and the possibility of a lingering look whereas film is generally not as accessible to ordinary people due to the expense of its production. As this essay is about the photograph as a static image and how the observer's understanding of the photographic image is able to be altered by its fetishistic aspects in a contemporary cultural climate, his discussions about the moving image will not be included.
             To begin with, he describes the process whereby people assimilate a photograph on its silent rectangle of paper into their conscious and subconscious mind. An observer has an indefinite period that they are allowed to view the picture and during this time they must attempt to understand the photographs content, context, and its cultural significance. This understanding, however, is determined by the degree of social recognition that the observer has, subjects that he might find easily accessible include peop
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