Not surprising to be finding a 100% saying they're looking for "a bit of both" in photos here, for there's even more things you might like in a photo apart from the two you're suggesting, Daniel - which goes with what Himalayan is saying, too.
It can be the uniqueness of a situation/face/pose, the creativity, the "eye" for things, the colours, the "drama" that can best be captured without colours (goes with technically well done b+w photography, of course)... and sometimes the photo as such tells a nice story, but technically it is not so well done - even technical bloopers can be photos that are particularly appealing... there is soooooo much in photography, it is such a wide field, that it is really, really hard to tell.