Reading+an+Image

=**Reading Images ** = = = The age demanded an image. --Ezra Pound


 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.

The information on this page comes from //Reading Reminders: Tools, Tips, and Techniques//, by Jim Burke. [|If you are interested in learning more about this book or ordering it, click here.]
 * 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?
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,Geneva,Swiss,SunSans-Regular;">In what context or under what conditions was this image originally created? Displayed?
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,Geneva,Swiss,SunSans-Regular;">Who created it?
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,Geneva,Swiss,SunSans-Regular;">Was it commissioned? (If so, by whom? And for what purpose?)
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,Geneva,Swiss,SunSans-Regular;">What was the creator trying to do here? (i.e., narrate, explain, describe, persuade---or some combination?)
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,Geneva,Swiss,SunSans-Regular;">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?
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,Geneva,Swiss,SunSans-Regular;">Do you like this image? (Regardless of your answer: Why?
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,Geneva,Swiss,SunSans-Regular;">How would you describe the artist's technique?
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,Geneva,Swiss,SunSans-Regular;">What conventions govern this image? How do they contribute to or detract from its ability to convey its message?
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,Geneva,Swiss,SunSans-Regular;">What does it consist of?
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,Geneva,Swiss,SunSans-Regular;">Why are parts arranged the way they are?
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,Geneva,Swiss,SunSans-Regular;">What is the main idea behind this image?
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,Geneva,Swiss,SunSans-Regular;">What does this image show (i.e., objectively; see Vietnam Memorial image)
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,Geneva,Swiss,SunSans-Regular;">What does it mean (subjectively; see Vietnam Memorial image)
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,Geneva,Swiss,SunSans-Regular;">Is this presented as an interpretation? Factual record? Impression?
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,Geneva,Swiss,SunSans-Regular;">What is the larger context of which this image is a part?
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,Geneva,Swiss,SunSans-Regular;">What is it made from?
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,Geneva,Swiss,SunSans-Regular;">Why did the creator choose the materials, medium, and perspective they did?
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,Geneva,Swiss,SunSans-Regular;">What is the place to which your attention is most immediately drawn?
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,Geneva,Swiss,SunSans-Regular;">What is the smallest detail that says the most?
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,Geneva,Swiss,SunSans-Regular;">How would it change the meaning or viewer's experience if different materials, medium, or perspectives were used?
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,Geneva,Swiss,SunSans-Regular;">What motivates the creator here?
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,Geneva,Swiss,SunSans-Regular;">What verbs could be used to describe what the components---colors, lines, light, space, objects, characters---are doing in the image?
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,Geneva,Swiss,SunSans-Regular;">What adjectives could be used to best describe the precise details of the objects in the image?
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,Geneva,Swiss,SunSans-Regular;">What nouns most accurately describe the content---colors, lines, light, space, objects, characters---of the image?
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,Geneva,Swiss,SunSans-Regular;">What adverbs most accurately describe how the components---colors, lines, light, space, objects, characters---of the image?
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,Geneva,Swiss,SunSans-Regular;">What do we need to know to read the image successfully?
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,Geneva,Swiss,SunSans-Regular;">How did the original artist expect this image to be read (e.g., as an interpretation, a prediction, a documentary)?
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,Geneva,Swiss,SunSans-Regular;">Is the creator working within or against a particular genre or school of expression?
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,Geneva,Swiss,SunSans-Regular;">What are the criteria you are---or should be---using to evaluate this image?
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,Geneva,Swiss,SunSans-Regular;">What are the image's motifs, themes, plot, and characters?
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,Geneva,Swiss,SunSans-Regular;">How would you describe the style of this image and why did the artist make the choices they did?
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,Geneva,Swiss,SunSans-Regular;">Where should you begin as you try to read this? Why there?
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,Geneva,Swiss,SunSans-Regular;">Is this image authentic (i.e., it has not been touched up or otherwise doctored using other materials or software programs)?
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,Geneva,Swiss,SunSans-Regular;">If this image was altered, who did it and why?
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,Geneva,Swiss,SunSans-Regular;">What questions do I need to ask to read this image successfully?
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,Geneva,Swiss,SunSans-Regular;">What is the best or the prescribed angle from which I should view this image?
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,Geneva,Swiss,SunSans-Regular;">How has the artist used the following elements to communicate with the viewer: light, line, space, time, color?
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,Geneva,Swiss,SunSans-Regular;">Does this image achieve---or is it offered as---symbolic or iconic representation (e.g., Dorothea Lange's "Migrant Mother")?
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,Geneva,Swiss,SunSans-Regular;">Is there an observable pattern used here? (And if so, what is it and how is it used?)
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,Geneva,Swiss,SunSans-Regular;">Does the creator use any devices---repetition, symbols, visual puns? (And if so, what are they, and how do they work in the image?)