Semiotics is the study of signs and symbols, in photography it involves the reading of a picture and its meaning. It is the interpretation of the photograph rather than its translation.
As photographers and/or viewers of photography we must consider the representation and therefore what a photographer attempts to represent with the photograph. Ferdinand de Saussure, the Swiss inventor of the theory of semiotics argued that a written and visual language is based on a system of signs composed of 'a signifier' (the form which the sign takes) and 'the signified' (the concept it represents). An American philosopher Charles Sanders Peirce, who also developed a theory on semiotics used a three part model based around 'the representamen' (the form that the sign takes; not necessarily material), 'an interpretant' (the sense made of the sign) and 'an object' (to which the sign refers).
There are a few significant points in the understanding of semiotics, i.e the signifier does not resemble the signified in relation to a symbol, the relationship between the two is based on our knowledge and therefore it must be learnt. Here perhaps it is worth mentioning such questions as subjectivity and cultural differences, the elements crucial for decoding a photograph, questions raised by Roland Barthes, the French literary theorist, philosopher and semiotician in his book 'Camera Lucida'. Icons on the other hand are a little different, as the signifier resembles or imitates the signified. Further to this we must also remember about indexicality, in which case a signifier is physically connected to the signified, i.e. smoke indicates fire or heat, tears sadness, etc.
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