There is a widespread assumption that pictures communicate automatically- that is, that readers do not need any literacy skills in order to read pictures.
(Jastrow, J. "The Mind's Eye." Popular Sci. Monthly 54, 299-312, 1899).
Is this a RABBIT or a DUCK?
You cant see both shapes or interpretations at once.....
(Hill, W. E. "My Wife and My Mother-in-Law." Puck 16, 11, Nov. 1915).
Is this a YOUNG LADY or an OLD WOMAN?
What we "really see" is dependent on what we have learned to recognize. This learning is influenced by our education, our cultural background, our environmental factors, the context of the image and our prior experiences when encountering similar images. For example, if I lived in the city and had never seen rabbits (aside from at the zoo etc) yet stopped by the park to feed the ducks every day...I might be more inclined to immediately interpret the first picture as a duck. If however, the image was on the front cover of "Farmer's Weekly" and a picture of a farmer holding a shot gun and 3 rabbits was close by, I might be more inclined to interpret it as a rabbit.
Likewise can the 'impact' of images (the effects they have on us) be altered depending on their environment. If I came across the a picture in a gossip magazine I might casually flick past it and have only a momentary reaction. If I came across the same picture in an art museum, I would be tempted to give it more consideration, in essence- its impact would carry more weight. The environment of any visual text will affect our "reading" of it- altering the way we interpret or make meaning from it.
In order to improve our competency when extracting meaning from pictures, we need to develop visual literacy skills. These kinds of skills include an awareness of the techniques and structures used in visual texts in order to interpret and create meaning.
What do you guys think? Do you think its important to be 'visually literate'?
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