Photography in Europe was largely guided by the notions of the picturesque, the important, and the beautiful. Americans, less convinced...
GMAT Reading Comprehension : (RC) Questions
Photography in Europe was largely guided by the notions of the picturesque, the important, and the beautiful. Americans, less convinced of the permanence of any basic social arrangements, experts on the "reality" of change, have more often made photography partisan. Pictures were taken not only to show what should be admired but to reveal what needs to be confronted and fixed up. American photography implies a less stable relation with history; and a relation to social reality that is both more hopeful and more predatory.
The hopeful side is exemplified in the use of photographs in America to awaken conscience. Lewis W. Hine was appointed staff photographer to the National Child Labor Committee, which was preparing to recommend legislation; his photographs of children working in mills in the 1910s helped make child labor illegal. In the case of Roy Stryker's Farm Security Administration project, the camera was a way of "learning" about the rural poor, so the New Deal bureaucrats could figure out how to help them. But even at its most moralistic, documentary photography was always imperious in another sense. Both detached traveler's report and the more forthright angry muckraking reflect the urge to appropriate an exotic reality. And no reality is allowed the right to resist appropriation, whether it is scandalous or beautiful or picturesque.
The predatory side of photography is at the heart of the alliance between photography and tourism. The case of the American Indians is the most brutal. Discreet, serious amateurs had been operating since the end of the Civil War; the opening wedge of an army of tourists eager for "a goal shot" of Indian life. The tourists invaded the Indians' privacy, photographing sacred dances and places, paying the Indians to pose, and making them so self-conscious that they revised their ceremonies.
But native ceremonies that are changed by the tourists are not so different from a city scandal that is corrected because someone photographs it. In so far as the muckrakers got results, they too altered what they photographed; indeed, photographing reality was one way of altering it.
Which of the following sentences would most likely follow the last sentence of the passage?
1. Passage Analysis:
Progressive Passage Analysis
| Text from Passage | Analysis |
|---|---|
| Photography in Europe was largely guided by the notions of the picturesque, the important, and the beautiful. | What it says: European photographers focused on taking pretty, significant, or aesthetically pleasing pictures. What it does: Introduces the European approach to photography as our baseline. Source/Type: Author's characterization/opinion about European photography traditions. Connection to Previous Sentences: This is our opening statement - no previous connections yet. Visualization: Think of European photography like a museum curator's approach: 70% beautiful landscapes, 20% important historical moments, 10% picturesque scenes. Reading Strategy Insight: This is setting up a comparison. Expect American photography to be described next, probably as different from this European approach. What We Know So Far: European photography = focused on beauty, importance, picturesque scenes What We Don't Know Yet: How American photography differs |
2. Passage Summary:
Author's Purpose:
To analyze American photography by comparing it to European photography and showing how American photography has two sides that both end up changing reality rather than just recording it.
Summary of Passage Structure:
The author builds their argument by starting with a comparison and then exploring both sides of American photography:
- First, the author contrasts European photography (focused on beauty and importance) with American photography (focused on social change and taking sides)
- Next, the author explains that American photography has two sides: hopeful (trying to fix problems) and predatory (taking what it wants regardless of consequences)
- Then, the author gives examples of both sides - hopeful examples like photographers who helped ban child labor, and predatory examples like tourists who invaded and changed Native American ceremonies
- Finally, the author connects both sides by showing that whether photography is trying to help or exploit, it ends up changing the reality it captures
Main Point:
American photography, whether it's trying to do good or just taking what it wants, doesn't just record reality - it actually changes the reality it photographs. Taking pictures is itself a way of altering what gets photographed.
3. Question Analysis:
The question asks what sentence would most likely follow the last sentence of the passage. The final sentence states: "In so far as the muckrakers got results, they too altered what they photographed; indeed, photographing reality was one way of altering it." This means we need to identify which choice would logically continue this thought about photography's reality-altering nature.
Connecting to Our Passage Analysis:
Our passage analysis revealed that the author's central thesis is that American photography fundamentally changes reality rather than just recording it. The passage builds to this conclusion through:
- Showing photography's dual nature (hopeful and predatory)
- Demonstrating that both sides ultimately alter what they capture
- Concluding that "photographing reality was one way of altering it"
The passage analysis also highlighted the author's key insight that photography "both loots and preserves, denounces and consecrates" - it has contradictory effects that all involve changing the subject.
Prethinking:
The correct answer should continue the theme of photography's contradictory but consistent reality-altering nature. It should acknowledge that photography involves taking/appropriating (predatory side) while also having some preserving or elevating effect (hopeful side). The answer should capture this paradoxical duality that runs throughout the passage.
Why It's Wrong:
- Focuses on technical/aesthetic aspects (light and shade) rather than social reality
- The passage never discusses formal photographic techniques
- Contradicts the passage's emphasis on photography's real-world social impact
Common Student Mistakes:
- Thinking photography discussions must involve technical aspects? → Focus on the passage's social/cultural analysis, not technical photography
- Assuming "realistic" connects to the passage's "reality" theme? → Distinguish between visual realism and social reality alteration
Why It's Wrong:
- While mentioning change, focuses on photographer's motives rather than photography's effects
- The passage concludes with photography's impact on reality, not photographer psychology
- "Temporary moment" contradicts the passage's emphasis on lasting changes (child labor laws, altered ceremonies)
Common Student Mistakes:
- Focusing on photographer intentions rather than photography's effects? → The passage concludes with what photography does to reality, not why photographers do it
- Thinking "change" makes this relevant? → Look for continuation of the specific theme about reality alteration
Why It's Wrong:
- Claims photography opposes history and understanding
- Contradicts the passage's examples where photography created historical change
- The passage shows photography as a tool that works with social understanding, not against it
Common Student Mistakes:
- Thinking "history" connects to the passage's discussion of American vs European approaches? → The passage uses history as context, not as photography's enemy
- Misreading the passage's complexity as opposition to understanding? → The passage shows photography creates understanding that leads to change
Why It's Wrong:
- Suggests photography fails to capture objects accurately
- Contradicts the passage's premise that photography successfully captures and changes social realities
- Focuses on representational accuracy rather than social impact
Common Student Mistakes:
- Thinking the passage questions photography's effectiveness? → The passage assumes photography works powerfully - that's why it alters reality
- Confusing "alteration" with "inaccuracy"? → Photography alters reality by being effective, not by being false
Why It's Right:
- Perfectly captures photography's contradictory dual nature established throughout the passage
- "Loots and preserves" reflects the predatory and hopeful sides discussed
- "Denounces and consecrates" shows how photography both attacks problems and elevates subjects
- Continues the theme of photography's paradoxical but consistent reality-altering effects
Key Evidence: "American photography implies a less stable relation with history; and a relation to social reality that is both more hopeful and more predatory" combined with the final insight that all photography "altered what they photographed."