Download Critical Perspective

Communication - Making and receiving messages
Perception & Cognition
Sender/intention
responder/receiver
Images carry information emotionally and intellectually.
When we take pay attention to visual information, we are analyzing it for meaningful content.
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We have considered influences on perception and cognition.
We have considered how images can be used to perpetuate stereotyped information or misleading
information.
Analyzing an image can allow us to understand the intention of the image maker, as well as its
potential effect or use.
The process starts with a personal review of what is in a composition…
Critics throughout the history of
literature have used many methods
to analyze the works of others.
Perspectives provide some ways of
critically analyzing an image.
Before utilizing six perspectives
from the work of David Lodge in order
to help analyze an image, we should
note all the major graphic and content
elements within the frame of the picture:
• Make an inventory list of
everything you see
• Notice the compositional
elements and lighting
• Study the visual cues
• Where do you think the picture
was made?
• What do you think is the purpose
of the image?
Aldous Huxley
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Brave New World
Inflammation of the Cornea
The Art of Seeing
The Visual Process
• Sensing
• Selecting
• Perceiving
• “The More You Know, the More
You See”
Aldous Huxley
Personal Impact Assessment
•What is the picture's story?
An isolated moment– a boy resting.
•List primary words/images
Eagle sculpture, boy, park, resting
•List associative words to images
Eagle sculpture – American symbol, strong,
protecting
Boy – African American, comfortable, looking
Park – peaceful, lush, quiet, haven for rest
Rest – away from chaos
•Select most significant associative words
Protecting, haven, comfortable
•Pair up primary & most significant associative words in your lists
Sculpture:protecting, boy: comfortable, park:haven
•Relate word pairs with your own feelings/emotions
Sculpture:protecting – symbol for America, boy: comfortable – young and needs to feel safe, park:haven
– place to relax in public space
•Relate any inner, personal symbolism/association
Recall the feelings after 9/11 and all the relentless media coverage- and our strengths as a country
•Write a brief note concerning personal insights from this process
I remember playing as a child in the park with my mother nearby and feeling safe near a large fountain..
Using the Six Perspectives to analyze an image
Historical Perspective
• What is the image's place in
history?
• When do you think the
image was made?
Recently – the clothing on
the boy looks more
modern
• Is there a specific style
that the image imitates?
the style reminds of the
newer approach to
photojournalism – more
casual, less formal
Technical Perspective
• Consider the process decisions –
what was created in the image
with the relationship between
light, the recording medium used
to produce the work and the
presentation of the work
• How was the image
produced?
• What techniques were
employed?
• Is the image of good quality?
The values are well distributed
so we notice details, such as
texture. The boy doesn’t
seem concerned or posing –
so the photographer was
good at getting the shot
without bothering him.
Ethical Perspective
What are ethical considerations?
• Categorical Imperative:
unconditional duty – following whatever is set up as rules, without question
• Utilitarianism:
Greatest good for the greatest number of people
• Hedonism: Personal Gain
live for today only
• Golden Mean:
Finding a Compromise
• Golden Rule:
Do Not Add to Another’s Grief
• Veil of Ignorance:
Empathy for others – seeing how others may feel
• Was the image maker socially
responsible?
• Has any person's rights been
violated?
• Is the image maker empathetic with
the subject?
• Does the visual message cause
unjustified harm?
Cultural Perspective
• Societal Impact
• What is the story and
the symbolism involved
with the elements in the
visual message?
Critical Perspective – final stage
• Reasoned,
cumulative opinion
• What do you think of this
image now that you
have spent time looking
and studying it?
YOUR turn
• Make an
inventory list of
everything you
see
• Notice the
compositional
elements and
lighting
• Study the visual
cues
• Where do you
think the picture
was made?
• What do you
think is the
purpose of the
image?
• What is the picture's story?
• List primary words/images
• List associative words to
images
• Select most significant
associative words- nouns,
adjectives, phrases
• Pair up primary & most
significant associative
words in your lists
• Relate word pairs with your
own feelings/emotions
• Relate any inner, personal
symbolism/association
• Write a brief note
concerning personal
insights from this process
Historical Perspective
• The image's place
in history or
importance based
on mediums
(photography)
timeline…
• When do you
think the image
was made?
• Is there a
specific style
that the image
imitates?
• Was the image maker
socially responsible?
• Has any person's rights
been violated?
• Is the picture
aesthetically appealing?
• Is the image maker
empathetic with the
subject?
• Can all the image
choices be justified?
• Does the visual
message cause
unjustified harm?
Cultural Perspective
• Societal Impact
• What is the story and
the symbolism involved
with the elements in the
visual message?
Critical Perspective – final stage
• Reasoned,
cumulative opinion
• What do you think of this
image now that you
have spent time looking
and studying it?
Yalta Conference, meeting (Feb. 4–11, 1945), at Yalta, Crimea, USSR, of British Prime Minister Winston
Churchill, U.S. President Franklin Delano Roosevelt, and Soviet Premier Joseph Stalin. The Yalta
conferees confirmed the policy demanding Germany's unconditional surrender.
Plans were made for dividing Germany into four zones of occupation (American, British, French, and
Soviet) under a unified control commission in Berlin, for war crimes trials, and for a study of the
reparations question.