Does Photography Have an Inherent Meaning?

On page 6 of Burning With Desire, Geoffrey Batchen writes that John Tagg argues "photographs can never exist outside discourses...there is never a neutral ground where the photograph is able to speak 'of and for itself,' where it can emit some essential, underlying 'true' meaning." I think that Batchen disagrees with this statement, and I have two questions. One is whether or not this is true, and if this applies to any (or all) other art forms.

I think all of this depends on the photo or not. If someone takes a photo of a refugee in a war-torn country, then obviously political and cultural discourses will come into play when considering the photo's meaning. But what does any of that have to do with a photo of a landscape, a puddle, etc.? I'd like to more if Tagg is referring to any sort of photography when making his claim, or the whole medium in general. And even if the photo in question is one of some obvious cultural significance, that doesn't mean that the photographer definitely had some sort of agenda when taking the picture. He could have admired the composition of the light, or the objects strewn about, or the particular look on the person's face. Just like with a book or movie or anything, the author/artist's intentions may be completely different from what the viewer may think based on their own experiences or cultural implications.

So what about other art forms? Do painting, sculpture, film, etc. have an "implicit meaning" outside discourses? Because these other media can be more abstract than photos, which are of the "real" world (usually), maybe someone like Tagg would say they have a meaning in themselves. I don't know what basis he is declaring that photography has no neutrality, without mentioning his thoughts on other media and why they do or don't have this implicit meaning. Obviously there are differences between all these art forms, but I think one of the central features of art in general is its ability to exhibit an underlying "true" meaning or emotion, regardless of its medium.

I'm not sure at this point what the implicit meaning in photography is, but I do think that there is one that exists beyond it's place as a function of societal institutions.