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Visual Literacy

How to interpret and analyse an image

The first thing to consider when interpreting and evaluating visual materials is the "rhetorical situation." This consists of four components:

  • Sender/Author/Creator 
  • Receiver/Audience/Viewer
  • Intention/Purpose/Goal 
  • Message/Content

You should take time to look closely at the image or series of images and read any captions, metadata, and other accompanying text to learn about the image(s) 

You should be able to:

  • Describe the image and what it represents
  • Identify the techniques used to produce it whether it is original or a reproduction
  • Recognise if the image has been altered. Is it a detail of a larger image, have the colours been changed?

Look at this picture of a sleeping swan. How does it make you feel? What does it mean - if anything? What is happening - if anything? How is your attention directed across the image?

Work through the 'Questions to ask Yourself' in the box below.

There isn't really a 'correct' answer to this exercise. Really look at the image and reflect critically on it and on your responses to it and practise asking yourself the questions.

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David Pulford (2019) Sleeping Swan on the Thames near Marlow.  Photograph taken on mobile phone April 14 2019

Questions to ask yourself when looking at an image

Sender/Author/Creator 

Who created the image

Who owns the image?

How can you find out?

 

Receiver/Audience/Viewer

Who is/was the intended audience?

What does the creator want  you the viewer to think? How can you tell?

What is your personal response to the image?

How do your own personal experiences, background, cultural influences, etc influence the way you interpret the image? 

How does the creator’s use colour, proportion, relationships between different parts of the image influence the way you interpret the image? 

Intention/Purpose/Goal 

What did the author of the image intend, or not intend when making or choosing the image?

Has anything been left out of the image? Or increasingly – has anything been added or manipulated?

Is the image typical of the time and culture in which it was produced?

How have other scholars used and commented on this image: Are there general assumptions about what the image means?

What does the creator want you the viewer to think? How can you tell?

Message/Content

What is the image - is it a photograph, painting, cartoon, poster, film, etc?

When and where was the image made? (Are there any clues in the image to connect it to a time and place?)

Where did you find the image?

Does the source provide any context or meaning regarding your image?

Are there any images of the same topic with you can make comparisons?

Who or what do you see?

What is happening?

What is in the foreground /background?

Is there a caption or title?

Tips for evaluating an image

Images, especially photographs, present a visual record of a moment in time. They can provide valuable information about what happened, what things looked like. However, images can be manipulated either by technical means such as altering or cropping, or by presenting images out of context. They are primary sources and need to be interpreted carefully. The following advice is from The American Library Association:

‘Once you have identified primary sources, it is necessary to read and examine them with a critical eye. It is important to consider both the source itself and the time in which it was created. Remember, too, that sources exist in different formats. Below are some of the questions you may ask about the nature of a source:
•    What is the source and what is it telling you?
•    Who is the author or creator?
•    What biases or assumptions may have influenced the author or creator?
•    Who was the intended audience?
•    What was the significance of the source at the time it was created?
•    Has the source been edited or translated, thus potentially altering the original intent or purpose?
•    What questions could be answered using this source?
•    What, if any, are the limitations of the source?
•    Does your understanding of the source fit with other scholars’ interpretations, or does it challenge their argument?
Consideration of these questions will help you analyse and interpret your sources without overusing and relying on too many direct quotations.’

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