John Baldessari turns the concept of a wrong photograph on its head by illustrating a photograph that, by conventional standards, is wrong, a palm tree growing out of the artist’s head, which is a common mistake in amateur photography. If the artist had just left the photograph with the caption, Baldessari could be considered a poor amateur photographer. But with the caption, “WRONG!,” he satire’s the photograph and the composition. Rather than “apologizing” for a poorly composed photograph, Baldessari ‘acts’ as if he is illustrating poor composition and mocks the approach/authority of the rules of composition to which, in essence, Baldessari’s photograph illustrates the power of the authority to judge if a photograph is correct or incorrect. Baldessari is known to have purposely cited the amateur photography manuals, and in doing so he raised the question of whose voice is to judge the value of the photograph and, more important, why the value of the photograph is determined by the level of technical correctness, rather than by the ideas that the photograph presents.

When context is applied to the photograph, the appreciation is altered. The photograph could be viewed as careless or unsophisticated. However, with the context, the “bad” composition becomes justified and the humor/critique is revealed. Baldessari himself explained how he was interested in the components of an image that could be ‘wrong’, according to the rules, yet still be ‘right’ as art. This kind of thinking is ironic, playful, and critically reflective. A photograph, in this case, does not have to be technically accomplished to hold value. Rather, the context of the photograph — the rationale behind the image and the concept it confronts — is most important.

Baldessari, John. Wrong! 1967. Los Angeles County Museum of Art,
collections.lacma.org/node/237769. Accessed 16 Jan. 2026.

“Wrong! (1967) by John Baldessari.” Artchive,
www.artchive.com/artwork/wrong-john-baldessari-1967/. Accessed 16 Jan. 2026.

“John Baldessari:Wrong.” Noah’s GCSE Photography, 2024, noahsgcsephotographysite.weebly.com/john-baldessariwrong.html.