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Viewing Actively

The path toward visual literacy starts with active viewing. Active viewing involves understanding, interpreting, and evaluating what you see. Just as you can read and discern the meaning of a text, you can “read” and decode the meaning of a visual. The process for “reading” visual images is outlined below.

Understanding What You See

Before you can derive meaning from an image, you must understand it. Understanding involves a process of observation, inspection, description, questioning, relating, and interpreting. Each step will help you think more critically about what you are viewing.

Flower Time Lapse

1. Observe

Observe the image as a whole. Where are your eyes drawn? What is the focus of the image? How does it make you feel?

2. Inspect

Inspect all parts of the image. Look for any symbols, body language, lighting, or other clues about the meaning.

3. Describe

Describe what you see by writing or speaking about it. Imagine describing the image to a friend at a party.

4. Question

Question the image. Who made it? When was it made? What does it show? Where did it come from? Why was it placed here? What confuses you about it?

5. Relate

Relate the image to what you already know—your life experiences and prior knowledge. Also consider any surrounding text or images.

6. Interpret

Interpret the image’s meaning. What is it meant to do, say, or show? (See page 220 for more on interpreting images.)

Your Turn Follow the first five steps explained on this page to decode the meaning of the image above. Afterward, summarize what you understand so far about the image.

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Interpreting What You See

When you interpret an image, you attempt to explain its meaning. Although the creator of the image (the photographer, painter, graphic artist, and so on) may intend to communicate a certain meaning to the viewer, most images are open to various interpretations.

How can I make sense of an image?

Several factors influence the way you interpret a visual—some relate to how the image is delivered, and others are based on the personal perceptions you bring to the task (see “Perception Cloud” below). As you interpret an image, also remember to consider the elements of the communication situation (see page 68).

Sender, Message, Receiver, Medium, and Context
  • Sender: Who created the image?
  • Message: What is the subject of the image? How is the subject portrayed?
  • Medium: What type of image is it (a painting, graphic, sculpture, photograph, and so on)?
  • Receiver: Who is able to view this image?
  • Context: How are you viewing this image (in person, in a magazine, on a Web site)? How might a different person interpret this image?

Perception Cloud

Our individuality, upbringing, and knowledge base filter our perception of visual messages. Your perception of an image may be different from someone else’s based on your unique traits.

Visual Message, Preception Cloud, and Interpretations

Your Turn

  1. How many ways can you interpret the image on the previous page? Consider the image in the context of the communication situation and come to a final conclusion about it. Write a paragraph about your conclusions and share it with a classmate.
  2. Imagine that you are someone else. Write down a different age, gender, culture, and education level from what you currently have. Now, with your new identity, interpret the image on the previous page. Summarize how this interpretation differs from your first interpretation of the visual.
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Evaluating What You See

After you interpret the meaning of a photo or image in news media, you can assess its quality, truth, and value. The questions below will help you to make an educated judgment of any image’s effectiveness.

Quality

Quality refers to an image’s visual appeal and effectiveness.

Assess quality by asking these questions:

  • Does the image clearly portray its intended subject?
  • Is it visually appealing?
  • Does it look professional?
  • Is it memorable?
  • Does the image achieve its intended purpose?

Truth

Truth measures the accuracy of an image’s communication. Today’s advanced image-editing software makes it possible to dramatically improve the quality of images, making them clearer and more visually appealing. However, those same tools can be used to distort reality or misrepresent the subject of the image.

Assess truth by asking these questions:

  • Does the image look real?
  • Is the lighting consistent?
  • Does it represent factual information?
  • Does it convey information without distortion?

Tip: You can critically view the photos of people featured in advertisements and magazines by looking for inconsistent lighting. Pay special attention to lighting around facial features. Inconsistent lighting is a common indicator of image alteration.

Value

Value measures an image’s worth.

Assess value by asking these questions:

  • Does the image say something important?
  • Is it worth viewing?
  • Does it appeal to me?

Your Turn

  1. Choose an image from your favorite magazine and assess it for quality, truth, and value. Compare your evaluation to a classmate’s and discuss.
  2. Imagine that you needed to create a poster about yourself (see pages 530-531). Choose a favorite image to use. How would you want to alter the image to make a stronger point? What changes would you make, and how would they affect the quality, truth, and value of the visual?
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