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Reading an Image I
The
age demanded an image.
--Ezra
Pound
Safe From Harm: Kosovar Albanian Agim Shala, 2, is passed between
family members in a refugee camp in Kukes, Albania, in March. As NATO jets began
to bomb Serb forces over the conflict
in Kosovo, Yugoslav president Slobodan Milosevic unleashed a vicious
campaign of "ethnic cleansing," involving massacres in different parts
of Kosovo designed to force the territory's ethnic-Albanian majority to leave.
Hundreds of thousands of people fled to neighboring Albania and Macedonia before
NATO's campaign allowed them to begin returning home in May. Now the tables have
been turned, and NATO forces are attempting to stop attacks on Kosovo's handful
of remaining Serbs. (1999)
JOHN LABRIOLA/AP
September 11, 2001: This photograph of firefighter Mike
Kehoe, from Staten Island, was taken as he rushed up Tower One. John Labriola,
who had an office on the 71st floor of the building, snapped the picture as he
passed Kehoe. Kehoe escaped with no physical injuries.
Rationale
In our
world of multi- and visual media, we must expand our notion of what a text is
and how we must read it. As more texts are used to convey information print once
did, we must bring to these visual texts critical literacies that will help us
construct meaning from their elements. The following questions are designed to
help readers make sense of images they encounter in various contexts.
Ask the
Following Questions
- Why are
we looking at this?
- What
are we looking for?
- How
should we look at this?
- What
choices did the artist make and how did they affect its meaning?
- Is this
image in its original state (i.e., no manipulation or
"doctoring")?
- What
are the different components in this image?
- How are
they related to each other?
- What is
the main idea or argument the image expresses?
- In what
context or under what conditions was this image originally created?
Displayed?
- Who
created it?
- Was it
commissioned? (If so, by whom? And for what purpose?)
- What
was the creator trying to do here? (i.e., narrate, explain, describe,
persuade---or some combination?)
- Can you
find any tension or examples of conflict within the image? If so, what are
they? What is their source? How are they represented?
- Do you
like this image? (Regardless of your answer: Why?
- How
would you describe the artist's technique?
- What
conventions govern this image? How do they contribute to or detract from its
ability to convey its message?
- What
does it consist of?
- Why are
parts arranged the way they are?
- What is
the main idea behind this image?
- What
does this image show (i.e., objectively; see Vietnam Memorial image)
- What
does it mean (subjectively; see Vietnam Memorial image)
- Is this
presented as an interpretation? Factual record? Impression?
- What is
the larger context of which this image is a part?
- What is
it made from?
- Why did
the creator choose the materials, medium, and perspective they did?
- What is
the place to which your attention is most immediately drawn?
- What is
the smallest detail that says the most?
- How
would it change the meaning or viewer's experience if different materials,
medium, or perspectives were used?
- What
motivates the creator here?
- What
verbs could be used to describe what the components---colors, lines, light,
space, objects, characters---are doing in the image?
- What
adjectives could be used to best describe the precise details of the objects
in the image?
- What
nouns most accurately describe the content---colors, lines, light, space,
objects, characters---of the image?
- What
adverbs most accurately describe how the components---colors, lines, light,
space, objects, characters---of the image?
- What do
we need to know to read the image successfully?
- How did
the original artist expect this image to be read (e.g., as an
interpretation, a prediction, a documentary)?
- Is the
creator working within or against a particular genre or school of
expression?
- What
are the criteria you are---or should be---using to evaluate this image?
- What
are the image's motifs, themes, plot, and characters?
- How
would you describe the style of this image and why did the artist make the
choices they did?
- Where
should you begin as you try to read this? Why there?
- Is this
image authentic (i.e., it has not been touched up or otherwise doctored
using other materials or software programs)?
- If this
image was altered, who did it and why?
- What
questions do I need to ask to read this image successfully?
- What is
the best or the prescribed angle from which I should view this image?
- How has
the artist used the following elements to communicate with the viewer:
light, line, space, time, color?
- Does
this image achieve---or is it offered as---symbolic or iconic representation
(e.g., Dorothea Lange's "Migrant Mother")?
- Is
there an observable pattern used here? (And if so, what is it and how is it
used?)
- Does
the creator use any devices---repetition, symbols, visual puns? (And if so,
what are they, and how do they work in the image?)
The
information on this page comes from Reading
Reminders: Tools, Tips, and Techniques, by Jim Burke.
Pictures are courtesy
of www.time.com
Reading Images
U.S. soldiers stand guard outside the Palestine and Sheraton Hotels as Iraqi
street children sleep next to them in Baghdad (Wednesday, June 11, 2003) Source:
Muad Sezer (AP)
An unveiled Afghan girl waits for a bus with burqa clad women in Kabul. Though
the vast majority of Afghan women still wear the burqa, many girls go about sans
veil (Monday, June 9, 2003) Source: Arko Datta (Reuters)
Filipino children play and swim in a construction site in a busy street of
Manila (Tuesday, June 3, 2003) Source: Romeo Ranoco (Reuters)
Smoke rises from a passenger train after it collided with a freight train in
Chinchilla, central Spain. The accident killed at least one person and injured
around 30 of the 87 passengers on board (Tuesday, June 3, 2003) Source:
Ramon Espinosa (AP)
A female American soldier frisks Afghan women at a village during Operation
Deliberate Strike, some 40 miles north of Kandahar. The mission involves
hundreds of U.S. troops on a sweep through southern Afghanistan to counter
operations by the resurgent Taliban and allied groups (Monday, May 19, 2003)
Source: Kamal Kishore (Reuters)
Rafael Martinez sits on the only piece of furnture left after his daughter's
moblie home was destroyed by a tornado. Eleven people were injured and dozens of
homes were damanged when a storm swept through the Rio Grande Valley near
Mission, Texas (Wednesday, April 30, 2003) Source: Delicia Lopez (San
Antonio Express News/AP)
Ben Sloan of Lima, Ohio and Ashley Lauth of Spencerville, Ohio go vertical on
Cedar Point Amusement Park's newest coaster, Top Thrill Dragster. The new thrill
ride in Sandusky, Ohio is the tallest, at 420 feet, and fastest, at 120 mph,
coaster in the world (Thursday, May 1, 2003) Source: Gene J. Puskar (AP)
Chinese paramedics in Wuhan tend to a man who had collapsed in public. The man
exhibited symptoms of SARS (Tuesday, April 29, 2003) Source: China Photo
(Reuters)
A man plays piano while others loot one of Saddam Hussein's former palaces in
Baghdad (Saturday, May 3, 2003) Source: Alexander Zemlianichenko (AP)
The Benitez family celebrates Mother's Day at their house in the Marianao
neighborhood in Havana, Cuba. Cuban families celebrate Mother's Day on the
second Sunday of May by gathering at home (Sunday May 11, 2003) Source:
Christobal Herrera (AP)
A U.S. Naval Academy plebe is pulled through the obstacle course by classmates
during the injured-shipmate phase of the Sea Trails exercises at the U.S. Naval
Academy in Annapolis, Md. Sea Trials, a rigorous one-day event which challenges
the plebes' physical and mental stamina, completes the first of four years at
the academy (Tuesday, May 13, 2003) Source: Jim Watson (AFP)
A lion exhausted by the heat lies in his cage in Calcutta Zoo. India's summer
temperatures frequently reach 113 degrees (Wednesday, May 14, 2003)
Source: Deshakalyan Chowdhury (AFP)
A masked couple shares a moment before departure at a train station in Beijing.
Nearly half of the world's cases of SARS have occurred in China, where official
statistics show that 92 people have died and more than 2,001 have been infected
by the disease. Source:Guing Niu (Reuters)
A young fan wearing a mask for protection from the SARS virus reaches out with a
glove as Kansas City Royals right fielder Michael Tucker misses a pop fly by
Toronto Blue Jays' Vernon Wells during fourth inning AL action in Toronto
Source: Hans Deryk (Toronto Star/AP)
A woman waves to her husband over a video camera on Monday April 28 in
Singapore's Alexandra Hospital. The hospital launched the virtual visit, an
alternative to the present no visitor policy for patients, even ones like this
one who do not have SARS. The rule was imposed by the Ministry of Health for all
public hospitals in a bid to contain the SARS virus. Source: Wong Maye-e
(AP)
Schoolgirls walk by as British soldiers aim at a sniper after British troops
came under fire in Basra. The incident came as British troops on foot patrol in
the center of the city were forced to take cover after a number of shots were
fired near them. It was not clear if the British soldiers were the target.
Although pockets of resistance remain, schools reopened Saturday for the first
time since the start of the war on March 20 (Saturday, April 19, 2003)
Source: Tim Sloan (AP)
A gaucho falls from his horse during a rodeo at the yearly "Rural
Fair" in Montevideo, Uruguay. Every year during Holy Week hundreds of
Uruguayan gauchos show their skills and compete for the title of best rider of
the rodeo (Monday, April 14, 2003) Source: Marcelo Hernandez (AP)
Three-month-old polar bear Victoria and her mother Fanny are seen during
Victoria's first public appearance in Hagenbeck's Tierpark zoo in Hamburg,
northern Germany. Victoria is the first polar bear born in the past eight years
in Hamburg's zoo (Wednesday, April 16, 2003). Source:Fabian Bimmer (AP)
Freestyle Moto X rider Pete McCann separates from his bike as he performs a
stunt during rehearsal for the Royal Easter Show in Sydney. More than one
million people are expected to attend the show (Wednesday, April 9, 2003).
Source: Greg Wood (AP)
A girl sleeps as other school children at the Yaojiayuan school take part in a
cleaning campaign to prevent the spread of SARS in Beijing. Authorities are
focusing on hygiene in public areas in an effort to prevent the spread of SARS,
which has killed about 100 worldwide (Wednesday, April 9, 2003). Source:
Ng Han Guan (AP)
Armond McCray, 5, (L) of Wichita, Kansas, and Josiah Seaton, 6, (R) of Bonner
Springs, Kansas, compete at the USA Kansas Kids State Folk-Style Championship
Wrestling Tournament in Topeka. Josiah beat Armond, 10-3, in overtime (Saturday,
March 29, 2003). Source: Anthony S. Bush (AP)
A man and child walk on a road near the entrance of the besieged city of Basra
as oil fires burn in the distance in Iraq. Party loyalists have taken up
positions in Basra, Iraq's second largest city, making it a target of the
U.S.-led war on Iraq (Saturday, March 29, 2003). Source: Spencer Platt (Getty
Images)
A Splendorous Cannes Depite World of Worries
Movie stars from around the world flock annually to the southern seaside French
town of Cannes to strut in front of the cameras and promote their latest films.
This year was no different despite the threat of SARS outbreaks and a nationwide
transportation strike the day before the opening on May 14.
Source: Lionel Cironeau (AP)
Source: Randy Olson (Washington Post) The Protiva family of Peace Valley,
Missouri homeschools their children to help them develop conservative Christian
beliefs.
Source: Randy Olson (Washington Post) The Protiva family of Peace Valley,
Missouri . Kristina isn't old enough to ride horses yet, but she dreams of
the day.
Source: Randy Olson (Washington Post) Lowell Davis wrestles with his sheep
on his farm near Red Oak, Missouri
Source: Randy Olson (Washington Post) During a shift change, a miner
rides through noxious carbon dioxide fumes on his way to the entrance to the
mine and fresh air.
Source: Randy Olson (Washington Post) Larry Visnosky and his pet bear
(500 pounds) Coco go for a swim in the Little Buffalo River near Jasper,Arkansas.
Source: Peter Essick (Washington Post) A man and a boy transport bananas
from a Del Monte plantation in Costa Rica
Source: Randy Olson (Washington Post) Pete and Jim Bansen corral the
cattle they plan to take to the Humbolt County Fair in California. One cow
won't budge, as she's reluctant to leave the Bansen's Ferndale farm
Source: Randy Olson (Washington Post)
Twinkle Twinkle Little Star
Young girls, decked out in stars and
sunflowers, prepare to parade before their families at the Brazoria County
Fair in Angleton, Texas.
Source: Randy Olson (Washington Post)
Proud Parent
John Swenson poses with his lamb, before
taking it to the Curry County Fair in Oregon.
Six-year-old John isn't a member of 4-H or Future Farmers of America yet,
but he will join other Curry County youngsters who display their proudest
efforts at the fair.
Source: Randy Olson (Washington Post)
Butter Bust
Each year, Minnesota’s regional dairy
princess has her likeness carved in an 85-pound block of butter.
Anna Vander Kooi, sits patiently while her butter bust is being carved.
Anna has won countless Nobles County Fair ribbons in bread, clothing and
dairy food categories.
Source: Slyvia Plachy (Washington Post) The
Edge of Innocence
There are boy-girl friendships among the third-graders as they are not yet
captive to what the teachers call "the cooties thing."
Source: Bill Kostroun (AP) June 9: New Jersey Devils' Mike Rupp, right,
and Colins White, left, celebrate with teammates after a goal against the
Anaheim Mighty Ducks during the second period of Game 7 of the Stanley Cup
Finals.
Source: Bill O'leary (Washington Post) USS Truman
Returns Home
Poignant goodbyes and homecomings are part of life at the world's largest naval
station in Norfolk, Va., but on May 23 the return of the thousands of sailors
and Marines aboard USS Harry S. Truman was remarkable even for this port.
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The ghostly remains of the R.M.S. Titanic, more than
two miles (3 kilometers) deep in the North Atlantic, lay unseen for 73 years
until oceanographer Robert Ballard thrilled the world in 1985 by finding the
famous luxury liner, sunk by an iceberg. The sediment-encrusted bow emerges in
high-intensity lights trained on it by submersibles. Source:Emory Kristof
(National Geographic)
Source: Joel Sartore (National Geographic) Snarling
Nick may look meaner than a junkyard dog, but he’s just a rancher’s pet wary
of outsiders — as are North America’s western cattlemen as they battle to
hold on to the lands that sustain them.
“The ultimate nightmare
hidden in the back of the human mind,” says photographer David Doubilet, “is
to be eaten alive.” In Gansbaai, South Africa, a 14-foot (4 meters) great
white shark gives Doubilet a seal’s-eye view of “the most notorious mouth in
nature
AP/DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE
TIME Magazine, 1-28-02
When is a
war prisoner not a POW? When the U.S. brings Afghan detainees to Guantanamo Bay.
PEDRO UGARTE/AFP
A resident of Goma watches lava flowing at the local airport. Following the
eruption of Mount Nyiragongo, about 450,000 people are reported to have fled
Goma, which lies at the foot of the mountain. Large parts of the town are now
buried under lava. (Friday, January 18, 2002)
VICTOR RUIZ CABALLERO/AP
TIME Magazine
An unidentified man marches
behind a banner during a demonstration on the streets of San Salvador, El
Salvador. Protesters demanded aid and housing from the government for the
thousands affected by the devastating earthquakes that hit the country last
year. The banner has the protestors' demands written on it. (Monday, January 14,
2002)
MARIO TAMA/GETTY IMAGES
TIME Magazine
U.S. Marines walk on top of their Light
Armored Vehicles (LAVs) while on patrol near the American military compound at
Kandahar Airport in Afghanistan. The Marines recovered mortars, rockets,
rocket-propelled grenades and artillery rounds discovered in various caches near
the base. (Wednesday, January 16, 2002)
Andy Manis/ AP
Green
Bay Packers' cornerback Mike McKenzie celebrates with fans as he jumps in
the stands after intercepting a pass for a touchdown in the fourth quarter
against the Minnesota Vikings in Green Bay, Wis. The Packers won 24-13. (Sunday,
December 30, 2001)
MARIO TAMA/GETTY IMAGES
An Afghan refugee, Akhta Mohammed, holds
his daughter, Basbabi, as his other daughter, Nasimo, looks on, outside Kandahar.
Mohammed's family has been living in a tent near the city for the past month in
the hope that additional aid for refugees will be delivered. The U.S. Army plans
to soon occupy Kandahar Airport to help coordinate shipments of relief supplies.
(Wednesday, January 9, 2002) from
www.time.com
Andre Lambertson/Saba for Time magazine
In September, Sanders, recently released from prison
dresses for an interview for a custodial position at a YMCA. From the TIME
magazine story, "Outside the Gates." (January 13, 2002)
 Jeff
Bernard/AP
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Firefighters battle the Quartz Fire
near Ruch, Ore., Tuesday, Aug. 14, 2001. The Quartz fire, one of many
burning in Oregon, has scorched more than 5,100 acres although officials
believe they can get it under control soon. |
www.espn.com
Apolo Anton
Ohno received six stitches in his left thigh after crashing Saturday. (Winter
Olympics 2002)
ADAM BUTLER/AP
A picture of the late Princess Margaret
is displayed in a shop window opposite Windsor Castle. (Friday, February 15,
2002)
www.bbc.com
Canada's figure skating pair of Jamie Sale and David
Pelletier perform their routine at the Salt Lake Ice Centre
(Winter Olympics 2002)
www.bbc.com
Marina Anissina and Gwendal Peizerat of France win gold medal at
2002 Olympics in Salt Lake City, Utah
Alexandra Brun AFP
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A woman cries as she watches her home on the outskirts of Lima, Peru
become covered in flood waters. Strong rains in the mountain ranges are
causing flooding in several areas of the country, resulting in property
damage and disruption of transportation. (Tuesday, February 5, 2002) |
by Photodisc www.time.com
6-16-02
Peter Jordan/AP
Workers in London's financial district
celebrate the World Cup soccer victory against Argentina.
www.time.com 6-16-02
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