Task 024 - 027

Task 028 Image Analysis
Visual Communication: Interpreting Edited Images

Post your comparative analysis of the image pair on the Task 028 Edited Image Analysis Discussion Board Thread.

The advent of the digital camera and related image editing applications to “fix” pictures (fix ‘red eye’, remove unwanted objects and people, adjust brightness and contrast, etc) tends to obscure the more powerful purposes of image editing – the shaping of the message the picture conveys. The goal of this task is to move beyond simple “touch up” editing and challenge you to develop an awareness of how image editing can be used to shape the message that an author wishes to convey to an audience.

The saying “a picture is worth a thousand words” contains a lot of truth. But the message conveyed by the image is frequently more variable than generally thought. In normal circumstances, an audience only sees the final edited version. Consequently, we often do not know what the original picture looked like, and are unable to determine how the message has been changed by the editorial process. In this exercise, we will examine an edited image and describe the message(s) that is/are being communicated. We will then examine the original image and compare it’s message to the edited version.

Of course, what one person believes the message to be may differ from what another sees in the same image. The extent of this variance is also an aspect of the image that the author is trying to control. Consider the difference between an abstract painting and a news photograph. The former engages the audience in the interpretive process, using visual elements to challenge the viewer to “make sense of the scene”, whereas the latter purports to place the observer “at the scene” in a factual manner. For this reason, images are generally subjected to interpretation by a “jury” process. Viewers – expert, lay or both – examine the picture and critique its use of the principles of visual communication. Over time, this conversation reveals the consensus and variant themes of the picture’s message.

In this exercise, we will conduct a “jury” process comparing edited images to their original source. Write a comparative analysis for each image pair comprised of three parts:

Part 1. Use the links to the left to examine an edited image. Describe your interpretation of the author’s visual message. Use the principles of visual communication to support your interpretation. (A paragraph or two)

Part 2. Then examine and describe the original image in the same way. (A paragraph or two)

Part 3. Finally, discuss how the editor changed the message through the application of image processing techniques. (A paragraph or two)

You will notice that the term Analysis, as used in this context, does not refer to a value judgment on the part of the observer. Rather, it is a description of the message perceived by the observer to have been created by the application of the principles of visual communication in the images. In this and the following exercise, you are being asked to “jury” the images as an informed observer, not a critic. A critic uses a critique to support a more extensive evaluation of a visual presentation and reach a judgmental conclusion call a Criticism (often published). We will be serving as informed observers, not as Critics. The difference is that you are asked to articulate the message(s) and methods that you perceive in the edited and original images; you are not asked to reach a value judgment (i.e. good or bad; effective or not) about these messages or the methods used to create them. Please Analyze rather than Evaluate.