A fixed boundary exists in the analog world differentiating the photograph and other media, such as text, sound and video. But now in the non-linear environment of the Web a photograph may be commonly activated as a moving video (just click on it), or can contain embedded sounds, text, images, 3-D environments, other photographs, etc. In fact, one useful Web navigational strategy is to allow the reader to click on sections of imagery (image maps) which then, depending on the part selected, takes one through specific pathways of additional information. Unlike the paper photograph which cannot become another medium and which, as a print, we were trained never to touch, the digital photograph becomes, like other media, a gateway to other ideas and other media. So, for example, the famous Eddie Adams’ photograph of a Vietcong officer being shot through the head can now exist both as image and image-map - clicking on the man with the gun, Nguyen Loan, one could hear his side of the story or see images of his friend’s family who had just been killed or find out about his post-war life as a restaurant owner in the USA. Similarly, one could click on the image of the man being executed to find out more about him.

Since on the Web the reader cannot see the links that follow before asking for them (it is not like a book or magazine where one can skip ahead) each choice implicates the reader more deeply in the selection - clicking on the image of a starving boy is different than gazing at him while turning the page. It seems almost obscene to be “touching” him, even through an image. And the feeling of anticipation, dread, curiosity that arises at one’s choice (the next link might be to an image of the boy’s corpse, or a local McDonald’s where one’s more affluent neighbors are gorging themselves) comes in part from knowing that each image may be the beginning of a surprising exploration, linked with words, imagery, sounds, other’s people’s comments, lists of available charities, etc.

In this environment the photographic image is often a hybrid meta-medium, and the “meta-photographer” must bring all kinds of contextual information to bear.The superficial, the generic, even the symbolic are called into question - the symbolic must be earned not simply by the “look” of the image resembling other archetypes but also by the contextualizing information that gives it meaning. Obviously the “meta-photograph” involves a great deal of thought and supporting materials, making it difficult to construct at all times. But when appropriate its construction will be made easier by the increasing abundance of supporting materials from a multiplicity of sources on the Web.