Is it permissible to view pictures that are free of any evil—that is, for entertainment—according to those who deem photography impermissible, and how can this be reconciled with the levels of enjoining good and forbidding evil?

What you mentioned regarding the prohibition of photographic images and the permissibility of watching television and video if they are free of objectionable content, is the view of a group of scholars. Images recorded on video tapes and the like do not have a physical appearance or a visible form; rather, they are electromagnetic waves. For this reason, those who do not permit photography with a camera have allowed them. As for static images on paper, the five rulings apply to them according to the intention: if the intention is unlawful, then it is unlawful; and if it is obligatory, then it is obligatory.