Confusion about using textures

So I'm a little confused about how to use textures in DirectX I'm currently loading a image from a file, which creates a ID3D11Texture2D but is this the final step to actually use the texture? Looking at this tutorial I see that there is something called a ID3D11ShaderResourceView. What is the purpose of this? It looks like thats how they send the texture to the shader, but is it possible to just bind the ID3D11Texture2D and use it directly? If not does this mean I need to create a ID3D11ShaderResourceView for each texture I load?