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Eye on Image-Making: Looking vs. Seeing

12.03.10

In other words, although we are inundated by more visual images than ever before, mostly in the body of photographs and video, the ability among the general public to understand those images has not reached a knowing level. Perhaps the ease with which visual images can be produced and distributed lessens their value in all senses of the dialogue, but especially as objects to be studied and understood.

I’ve often been struck by the fact that we spend so much time educating youthful people to analyze and interpret written texts, but comparatively little time teaching them to analyze and simplify visual images. This despite the growing informational burden assumed by visual images vs. the written brief conversation in modern society. You may look at hundreds of visual images in an average day, but are you giving them more than a slapdash glance? What do you actually see?

Describe the Content

Just as with written text, there are techniques for analyzing and interpreting visual images. First, a caveat: although this column deals solely with visual images, we once in a blue moon encounter visual images without some kind of accompanying written or spoken text. This may be as unembellished as a caption or as complex as a magazine story or the dialog in a documentary or feature film.

Source: Black Star Rising