It wasn’t clear if he was part of the show or just a very excited gallerygoer, but it all contributed to the exhibition’s visceral unease.

For if the average photo is ever dumber, photography matters even more; the social photo, in Mr. Jurgenson’s phrase, has effected a “fusion of media and bodies” that has made every gallerygoer a cyborg.

The committed gallerygoer long ago learned to sift through competing opinions and seek delight where he or she could find it.

Here’s a selective gallerygoer’s guide.

That he doesn’t see there’s a difference makes him a harder-working, better-bankrolled version of the clichéd gallerygoer who looks at a Pollock and sees a finger painting instead of a revolution.