VISUAL

COMMUNICATION

LESSON 4:
PERSPECTIVES
FOR ANALYZING
VISUAL MESSAGES
SIX PERSPECTIVES FOR ANALYZING IMAGES
To fully appreciate visual communication, you must be able to use some sort of
critical method to analyze visual images. One such approach is through Dr. Paul
Martin Lester’s method that involve the following perspectives:

1. Personal: a gut reaction to the work based on subjective

opinions.
2. Historical: a determination of the importance of the work
based on the medium's timeline.
3. Technical: the relationship between light, the recording
medium used to produce the work, and the presentation of
the work.
4. Ethical: the moral and ethical responsibilities that the
producer, the subject, and the viewer have of the work.
5. Cultural: an analysis of the symbols used in the work that
convey meaning within a particular society at a particular time.
6. Critical: The issues that transcend a particular image and
shape a reasoned personal reaction.
Using the six perspectives will encourage you
to base conclusions about images on rational
rather than emotional responses. You will find
that any and all images have something to
tell you because every image created has
some meaning to communicate. The
producer of the image took the time to
frame and make the image for a reason.
 An image, regardless of its medium of presentation, is
forgotten if it isn't analyzed.

 A forgotten image simply becomes another in a long

stream of meaningless images that seem to flood every
aspect of communication.

 Meaningless images entertain a viewer only for a brief

moment and do not have the capacity to educate. But an
analyzed image can affect a viewer for a lifetime.
Image analysis teaches two important
lessons about the creation of memorable
images:

1. A producer of messages must know the

culture of the intended audience; and

2. The symbols used in the image must be

understood by that culture.
Before using any of the six perspectives, you should
first look at all the major graphic and content elements
within the frame of the picture. Graphic elements
include the four visual cues – color, form, depth, and
movement.

Study the graphic elements of an image to see how

the various visual cues interact and conflict. Actively
notice an image’s composition —the use of shadows
and lighting effects, utilization of shapes and lines
within the frame of the image, creation of depth, the
use of color —and the way the eye actively scans the
image because of the elements within the frame.
Having accomplished that mental exercise, record all the
content elements within the image, listing separately
elements that are meaningful and elements that are
unclear. Spend time with the symbols that are confusing
to figure out their meaning.

Treat the analysis of an image as a game—as an exercise

similar to a detective's challenge in trying to solve a
mystery. After identifying the graphic and the symbolic
elements, you are ready to analyze the image in terms of
the six perspectives.
Personal Perspective
Upon first viewing any image, everyone draws a quick, gut-level
conclusion about the image based entirely on a personal response.
Words and phrases such as "good," "bad," "I like it," or "I don't like it"
indicate that a person initially analyzes an image on a superficial,
cursory level.

Personal perspectives are important because they reveal much about

the person making the comments. However, such opinions have
limited use simply because they are personal. These comments cannot
be generalized beyond the individual, nor do they reveal much in the
way of how a culture would view the image.

A memorable image always sparks strong personal reactions, either

negative or positive, and also reveals much about the culture from
which it was made. A viewer who rests a conclusion about an image
on personal perspective denies the chance of perceiving the image in
a more meaningful way.
Historical Perspective
Each medium of presentation —from typography to networked
interactive multimedia — has a unique history of circumstances that
were set in motion and fostered by individuals interested in
promoting the medium.

For typography, the history of writing dates from the dawn of

recorded history. For networked interactive multimedia, the historical
developments are relatively recent.

A knowledge of a medium's history allows you to understand current

trends in terms of their roots in techniques and philosophies of the
past.

Creative visual message production always comes from an awareness

of what has come before, so present applications also will influence
future uses.
Technical Perspective
You must know something about how each medium of
presentation works. A thorough critique of any visual
presentation requires a knowledge of how the producer
generated the images that you see.

With an understanding of the techniques involved in

producing an image, you are in a better position to know
when production values are high or low, when great or little
care has been taken, or when much or little money was
spent to make the images.
Ethical Perspective
This perspective considers the purposes and potential consequences
related to a work. The following are a few ethical approaches in the
analysis of images:

1. Teleological – goal-oriented
2. Deontological – principle-oriented; duty and adherence to basic
principles matters more than consequences
3. Categorical Imperative – consistent, unconditional rules
4. Utilitarianism – the greatest good for the greatest number of
people
5. Hedonism – maximize pleasure without concern for the future
6. Golden Mean – Find middle ground between two extremes
7. Golden Rule – a principle found in most religions and spiritual
traditions; interpreted variously as “Act toward others the way you
want them to act toward you”
8. Veil of Ignorance – all people are equal; imagine you respect
everyone equally and have no knowledge of class or other human
differences, and act accordingly
TELEOLOGICAL
Deontological
Categorical Imperative
Utilitarianism
Hedonism
Golden Mean
Golden Rule
Veil of Ignorance
Cultural Perspective

Cultural analysis of an image involves identifying the symbols

used in the image and determining their meaning for the society
as a whole.

Symbolism may be analyzed through the image's use of heroes

and villains, by the form of its narrative structure, by the style of
the artwork, by the use of words that accompany the image, and
by the attitudes about the subjects and the culture
communicated by the visual artist.

Cultural perspective is closely related to the semiotic approach.

Critical Perspective

A critical perspective requires an attempt to transcend a

particular image and draw general conclusions about the
medium, the culture from which it is produced, and the viewer.

A critical perspective allows the viewer to use the information

learned about a medium, its practitioner, and the image
produced to make more general comments about the society
that accepts or rejects the images. As such, a critical
perspective redefines a person's initial personal perspective in
terms of universal conclusions about human nature. It explores
a work in the context of issues of power, politics and
economics.
Critical approaches have classically been grounded in the
political economy of cultural production, analyzing the
system of production and distribution, and raising
questions of who is producing, promoting, and
disseminating the images in question and for what
purposes.

So, if one is criticizing a specific website, and if one is interrogating

the images and design, one needs to ask if this is a commercial
site, if the images are promoting certain products and are a form
of advertising, and what values, messages, and ideologies are
being communicated by the specific images under scrutiny. If it is
a political or informational site, one needs to raise questions
concerning the perspectives of those producing the site, their
biases, and the actual content of the images and information
portrayed.
Moreover, the critical approach involves systematic examination of
the politics of representation, of the images of class, race, and
gender in a specific arena of visual communication. Hence, after
engaging the production and political economy of images, the
critical perspective focuses on the politics of representation: do the
visual images advance class, racial, gender or other forms of
domination, or are they empowering to oppressed groups?

One would, in this case, criticize images and representation that

promote such things as racism, sexism, homophobia, and other
forms of oppression and would valorize representations that
presented resistance to oppression and the empowerment of
oppressed groups, or that promoted positive values such as
democratization, individual rights and freedoms, social justice or
other positive values.
A critical cultural studies sees society as a contested
terrain, as a battleground for domination and
hegemony between competing gender, race, sex,
ethnic, class, and other forces (see Kellner and Ryan
1988 and Kellner 1995).

Images and representations often reproduce and

circulate competing social discourses, as when positive
and empowering images of women transcode feminist
discourses, and thus contest sexist stereotypes that
promote the oppression of women.
In any case, a critical cultural studies situates visual
imagery in terms of an ongoing contest of
representations between opposing social forces.

From the perspective of the politics of

representation, the critical approach grounds its
standpoint of critique in measuring whether images
promote oppression or empowerment, whether they
further the subordination of oppressed groups
according to gender, race, class, sexuality, and other
criteria, or the empowerment of these groups, thus
undermining oppression.
However, since not all images and representations are overtly
political, one needs to get at the multiplicity of values, meanings,
or messages encoded into the form and content of visual
images, and explore the multiplicity of ways in which audiences
decode visual images and media texts according to their own
subject-positions.

Visual images and media texts are often polymorphous,

containing a wealth of meanings; images function in contexts
and their meanings evolve in terms of narratives, sequences, and
resolutions. A critical approach would not, therefore, reduce
visual images or media texts to one singular interpretation,
although one could well privilege a certain reading. Yet one also
needs to know how various audiences process visual images and
the variety of ways in which images can be read.
Reading images critically thus involves
cultivating visual literacy. It requires
fluency of the various theories to get at
the full range of meanings of visual
images.
Dauna Kraag is the professional
shooter from Amsterdam, the
Netherlands. She is mesmerized by
the beauty of our world (not only the
natural one) and gives her photos a
High-End Level of retouching.  Dauna
perceives everything in her own way
and shows her feelings and thoughts
by her pictures. She has an appetite
for something unusual, extraordinary,
original and controversial. Dauna
Kraag is very curious – she likes to
encounter new challenges, and think
in a different way. What`s more,
Dauna finds it interesting to observe
people`s feelings, reactions and their
way of behavior. She has no fear for
experiments and craziness, or even
something unaccepted by society.
She is against the system.
Connor Kitching is a creative shooter
on the make, who studies BA
Photography at the University for the
Creative Arts in Farnham, UK. Having a
great experience of travelling all over
the world, Connor he is quite lucky to
meet many different people and get
acquainted with unusual cultures. He
had an opportunity to witness a wide
range of scenic backdrops and
incredible things which may change
the understanding of the world.
Connor conceives the contemporary
society as something constantly
changing, the diversity of tastes,
attitudes and desires, without
perpetuated stereotypes or biases.
Andrea Mora is the professional
photographer who is currently a
student of the Savannah College
of Art and Design. Her works are
put on display globally and are
really worth seeing. She has a
special talent to find something
extraordinary in the ordinary
things. Andrea highlights
distinctive features of people she
takes pictures of. She wants her
images to make people feel
something that evokes some
particular emotions. Andrea More
is keen on shooting wildlife and
landscapes, but now she is also
interested in shooting
controversial and intimate
pictures. Her pieces are believed
to be thought provoking, eye-
catching and captivating. 
Charlene Sampson is the
UK-based art shooter who
finds her inspiration in
philosophy, politics and the
diversity of our society. She
gives attention to culture
and racism and always tries
to work with a fertile
creativity. As a child,
Charlene used to be
daydreamer and was fond of
Art, which influenced her
future career. Charlene puts
a certain sense into every
photo, she wants people to
pick up on her message and
ruminate on questions her
pieces raise.
Charles Moore is a Montgomery
advertiser and life photographer.
During his career, he was involved
in the civil rights movement in the
United States from 1954 to 1968.
Because of the rampant racism in
these areas, the movement is
particularly cruel in Alabama and
Birmingham. Charles took a photo
of a white policeman's dog biting
an African American leg. You can
see in the picture that the dog has
torn off his pants from his ankle. It
seems that the police are urging the
dog, not stopping it.
In 1993, Kevin Carter was
photographing the effects of the
famine in Sudan. He took a picture
there, which showed a hungry
child who was dying.
This child suffers from
Kwashiorkor, a disease caused by
lack of nutrition. The child's arms
and legs are only as thick as
wooden sticks, and his stomach is
swollen and protruding. The most
controversial part of this photo is
the vulture waiting to eat.
This horrible photo aroused anger
all over the world and aroused
people's attention to the famine in
Sudan. The images and scenes
seen in Sudan have troubled Kevin
so much that he committed suicide
in 1994.