Just as Tolkien did in “The Lord of the Rings,” photographers encompass cultural, historical, and personal viewpoints in their work. However, as in that book, a complex interaction exists between the photographer’s intent and the viewer’s interpretation of the image.

Recently, I was driving alone for several hours. To break the monotony of the journey, I took the opportunity to listen to the BBC dramatization of J.R.R. Tolkien’s “The Lord of the Rings.” It’s not a story my wife enjoys, but I do. That difference of opinion has an important parallel in photography.

I first heard it aired on the radio in 1981, but I had read its six books years before and several times since. On the surface, it is a story about the fight between good and evil. That simplistic interpretation of the work is probably how I understood the story when I first picked it up, when I was about ten years old.

The movies, excellent though they were, were limited by their time restraints.…