The deeply inherent characteristic of reproducibility within digital media has eliminated the realist connections we once had with images. This reproducibility has also made images, both harmful and innocent, more readily available to spectators. Although we cannot escape images and media in our daily lives, we can control how we understand media messages by developing visual literacy in our classrooms. In our visually stimulating world, we continually undergo a complex process to produce meanings for the pictures that surround us (Sturken & Cartwright, 2009, p.49). It is our role as teachers, to educate our students about accountable consumption and interpretation of images. To read more about a viewer's role in creating meaning, click here.
Visual literacy involves decoding the strategies used to convey meaning in images, as indicated by Frank Baker (2012) - to begin to understand how images communicate with the viewer. Albeit, audiences are often seen as undifferentiated and easily propagandized, there are too many resources available to us as viewers to proclaim ignorance. Take for example, this page, which is filled with lesson plan ideas and links to a wide array of visual literacy resources.
Visual literacy involves decoding the strategies used to convey meaning in images, as indicated by Frank Baker (2012) - to begin to understand how images communicate with the viewer. Albeit, audiences are often seen as undifferentiated and easily propagandized, there are too many resources available to us as viewers to proclaim ignorance. Take for example, this page, which is filled with lesson plan ideas and links to a wide array of visual literacy resources.
Just as humans have developed and adapted throughout history, so has visual culture, and it is important we explore the conditions and shifts in perception to comprehend how our society's visual literacy, or rather illiteracy has advanced. Contemporary viewers unconsciously give power to images, as we allow images in media and advertising to affect our self-image. Growing up as a female in a contemporary visual culture, surrounded by digitally manipulated images of flawless feminine figures, has unconsciously (and now consciously) molded my own practices of looking and forming human-subject relations. This is why we should challenge our students as viewers of images to take a step outside of their comfort zone and tendency to take images at ‘face value’ and instead look deeper into contextual, subjective extensions that perspective can create. If you don't believe me, check out these celebrity 'before' and 'after' photoshop images. The manipulation of media has become so commonplace, most people do not even question the legitimacy of these images.
According to Frank Baker, the producer of an image, whether it is an artist, a company, or an ad consultant, has an intended meaning for the image. But, they are still not in full control of viewers’ perceptions. Our culture can create new meanings or interpretations based on social interaction surrounding the image and the context in which it is displayed. Bringing images into the classroom will create a new platform for viewing and critically analyzing our visual world. As the viewer, students should learn how to decode and negotiate the dominant meaning encoded in an image.
According to Frank Baker, the producer of an image, whether it is an artist, a company, or an ad consultant, has an intended meaning for the image. But, they are still not in full control of viewers’ perceptions. Our culture can create new meanings or interpretations based on social interaction surrounding the image and the context in which it is displayed. Bringing images into the classroom will create a new platform for viewing and critically analyzing our visual world. As the viewer, students should learn how to decode and negotiate the dominant meaning encoded in an image.
What would happen if we were to deconstruct the elements of images in the media?
Would the dominant meaning intended by the producer still exist without context?
Do we really create our own meanings?
Or does this paradox exist, where students in the twenty-first century are so exposed to pre-constructed perceptions, that media will still determine how they "create their own meaning"?
These are the questions we should be exploring in the classroom.
So, in an attempt to consolidate the power associated with de-contextualizing images , consider the above questions while you view the following video:
So, in an attempt to consolidate the power associated with de-contextualizing images , consider the above questions while you view the following video:
References
Baker, F. W. (2012). Media literacy in the K-12 classroom. Eugene, Or.: International Society for Technology in Education.
Sturken, M., & Cartwright, L. (2009). Practices of looking: an introduction to visual culture (2nd ed.). New York: Oxford University Press.
Sturken, M., & Cartwright, L. (2001). Practices of Looking. University of California Santa Cruz. Retrieved October 14, 2014, from http://www.ic.ucsc.edu/~dej/2012%20Porter%20Core%20READER/2012%20PORTER%20CORE%202012%20READER/Persepolis /Sturken&Cartwright.Viewers%20Make%20M
The Reality of Celebrity Photoshop: Before and After. (n.d.). Messy Nessy Chic. Retrieved October 14, 2014, from http://www.messynessychic.com/2010/10/12/the-reality-of-celebrity-photoshop-before-and-after/
[Untitled photograph of a visual culture evolution]. (n.d.). Retrieved October 14, 2014, from http://www.pas.org.pk/wp-content/uploads /2013/12/evolution-of-advertising-2.png
[Untitled photograph of Jessica Alba photoshopped]. (n.d.). Retrieved October 14, 2014, from http://www.messynessychic.com/2010/10 /12/the-reality-of-celebrity-photoshop- before-and-after/
Viewers Make Meaning. (n.d.). University of California Santa Cruz. Retrieved October 14, 2014, from http://www.ic.ucsc.edu /~dej/2012%20Porter%20Core%20READER/2012%20PORTER%20CORE%202012%20READER/Persepolis /Sturken&Cartwright.Viewers%20Make%20
You Oughta Be in Pictures: An Introduction to Making Videos. (n.d.). Visual Literacy: Lesson Plans. Retrieved October 15, 2014, from http://www.frankwbaker.com/vl_lessonplans.htm
Baker, F. W. (2012). Media literacy in the K-12 classroom. Eugene, Or.: International Society for Technology in Education.
Sturken, M., & Cartwright, L. (2009). Practices of looking: an introduction to visual culture (2nd ed.). New York: Oxford University Press.
Sturken, M., & Cartwright, L. (2001). Practices of Looking. University of California Santa Cruz. Retrieved October 14, 2014, from http://www.ic.ucsc.edu/~dej/2012%20Porter%20Core%20READER/2012%20PORTER%20CORE%202012%20READER/Persepolis /Sturken&Cartwright.Viewers%20Make%20M
The Reality of Celebrity Photoshop: Before and After. (n.d.). Messy Nessy Chic. Retrieved October 14, 2014, from http://www.messynessychic.com/2010/10/12/the-reality-of-celebrity-photoshop-before-and-after/
[Untitled photograph of a visual culture evolution]. (n.d.). Retrieved October 14, 2014, from http://www.pas.org.pk/wp-content/uploads /2013/12/evolution-of-advertising-2.png
[Untitled photograph of Jessica Alba photoshopped]. (n.d.). Retrieved October 14, 2014, from http://www.messynessychic.com/2010/10 /12/the-reality-of-celebrity-photoshop- before-and-after/
Viewers Make Meaning. (n.d.). University of California Santa Cruz. Retrieved October 14, 2014, from http://www.ic.ucsc.edu /~dej/2012%20Porter%20Core%20READER/2012%20PORTER%20CORE%202012%20READER/Persepolis /Sturken&Cartwright.Viewers%20Make%20
You Oughta Be in Pictures: An Introduction to Making Videos. (n.d.). Visual Literacy: Lesson Plans. Retrieved October 15, 2014, from http://www.frankwbaker.com/vl_lessonplans.htm