Is observation free from evaluation?

"To observe without evaluating is the highest form of intelligence" Krishna Murti writes.

Look at this image....why is this woman crying? Is she crying? Why is she sitting at the curb, and what is written on the piece of paper in her hand? In the cup on her left side, what is in it? Where is she sitting, in a terminal, at a bus stop, outside a drugstore?

When we are observing something, someone, what are we actually doing?

According to Collins Thesaurus: study, monitor, investigate, ponder, check, look on, etc. or Wikipedia: receiving knowledge from the outside world through the senses, recording data using scientific instruments.

There is something called the "observer effect" that I will touch on later, for now I will just ponder what happens when we observe. Have you ever noticed that when we observe, or look at something, we seem to start a narrative. As a visual artist I deal with this issue very often. It seems as if the minute we look at a painting, many of us start a narrative of what the painting means, depicts, etc. Figurative art is easy, but what to do with non-figurative? How do we make a narrative out of seemingly random, meaningless pigments on a canvas? Jackson Pollock, loved by some, and disliked by many, conveyed a totally different aspect of painting; the process; and the narrative, (if any), belongs with each viewer of the work. (It always does but in the case of abstract painting more so than figurative it seems)
                             Having a "narrative" for many of us offers cohesion, i.e. making sense out of it all, so when we for instance see an old woman sitting on the ground crying, we may try to find an answer, a story, explaining to ourselves the behaviour, since the behaviour is not a common place occurrence. (Crying is usually done in private) Many times we have "narratives" which we are unaware of directing our views, passing out judgement so to speak, for us however, it feels like "that's how it is" and we often experience the narrative as "the truth". To change a narrative takes much effort, new interpretations and new information. Some years ago Harrison Ford portrayed a man who through an incident lost his memory, ("Henry")and had to start all over to discover who he is. His wife would inform him of what his likes and dislikes were because he no longer knew, but as time progressed he found it harder and harder to go along with the information, because it was no longer true for him. Losing his memory, he lost his narrative and he no longer viewed the world the same.
                                          Understanding other people's narratives helps us to understand their choices, opinions, attitudes and lifestyles, and understanding often encourages in us a greater sense of compassion. Context often paves the way for a less judgemental and more open interpretation of others, but if nothing else, it offers insight. To observe without judgement, to suspend any opinion, to not attach a narrative, is difficult for most of us. Our own narratives are so very real to us that to entertain the notion that it may not be the only "truth", can be very challenging. Maybe all we can do is to begin by suspending our judgement until we know all the variables....entertain all possibilities, and err on the side of charity.
   "People's minds are changed through observation not through argument". (Will Rogers)
   "The service of philosophy, of speculative culture, towards the human spirit is to rouse, to startle it to life of constant and eager observation".  (Walter Pater)

                        Observation affects the observer, how the information then is digested 
                        depends on the observers narrative.

ps: for those of you interested in more aspects of observation, may I suggest looking up
     "The Observer effect".....areas such as IT, Physics and Psychology.