This document discusses the importance and power of visual literacy and images. It uses a story arc structure to convey key points about images, including that they can communicate ideas in ways words cannot, but also that their meaning depends on context and they can be manipulated. The document emphasizes developing skills to thoughtfully evaluate, understand and apply images. It suggests media literacy, digital literacy and visual literacy are increasingly important in our visual culture.

1. Image: tpmartins (flickr.com - cc)

2. identify access evaluate apply ethics
Images: andercismo; ElStruthio; gonzales2010; IceSabre; marttj (flickr.com - cc)

3. nothing .

4. information = te xt

5. “...information is available through
multiple media, including graphical,
aural, and textual, and these pose
new challenges for individuals in
evaluating and understanding it.”
~ ACRL
Reference: http://www.ala.org/ala/mgrps/divs/acrl/standards/informationliteracycompetency.cfm

6. Image: mightymightymatze (flickr.com - cc)

7. Image: (c) Andrew Goodwin

8. information > te xt
Images: Incendiarymind; ckaroll; N.J. Lee; (c)athrine; Steve Rhodes; margolove; prallin; paulbence_photography (flickr.com - cc)

9. c r e a t in g
c o n s u m in g
Image: Melissa Maples (flickr.com - cc)

10. Images

11. Images tell stories.

12. Image: found_drama (flickr.com - cc)

13. Image: foxypar4 (flickr.com - cc)

14. Image: simplerich (flickr.com - cc)

15. Image: neb (flickr.com - cc)

16. Image dotbenjamin (flickr.com - cc)

17. e e / s pe ak
a t c h / w r it e
s u a l / v e rb a l
Image: sean_dreilinger (flickr.com - cc)

18. Images a r e the
story.
Image: (c) M.J. D’Elia

19. 1) Includestelllot of images.
1) Images a stories.
2) Stories help us story structure.
Uses a classic understand.

20. Image

21. Image Image Image Image
Image Image Image Image
Image Image Image Image
Image Image Image Image

22. climax
Story Arc
(aka Freytag’s pyramid)
falling
action
rising
action dénouement
resolution
exposition
inciting incident
Reference: http://oak.cats.ohiou.edu/~hartleyg/250/freytag.html

23. Exposition
“A picture is worth a thousand
words”

24. documentation
identification
elaboration
emotion why image s ?
direction
acculturation
decoration
communication

25. show & te ll

26. 1 ,0 0 1 ,0 0 0
0
w o r dw o r d s
s

27. inte rpre tation.

29. Image: (c) M.J. D’Elia

30. P s button
res Grab bacon Eat bacon

31. Image: Thomas Hawk (flickr.com - cc)

32. Image: Ed Yourdon (flickr.com - cc)

33. Inciting Incide nt
“Picture perfect”

34. cave paintings
illuminated manuscripts
Renaissance portraits
printed lithographs

35. profession of a few
practice of the masses

36. ?

37. Image: Shermeee (flickr.com - cc)

38. Rising Action
“Seeing is believing”

39. Images: pineapplebun; John Fravel (flickr.com - cc)

40. Image: Anirudh-Koul (flickr.com - cc)

41. production.
distribution.

42. Orality T xtuality
e Visuality
rhetoric logic ?
memorization authority ?
fluid frozen fluid
s u b je c t iv it y o b je c t iv it y ”s u b je c t iv it y
“

43. se e ing is be lie ving .

44. Orality T xtuality
e Visuality
rhetoric logic ?
memorization authority ?
fluid frozen fluid
s u b je c t iv it y o b je c t iv it y ”s u b je c t iv it y
“

45. Climax
“The moment that never
was”

46. 1) Images tell stories.
2) Stories help us understand.

47. Basra, Iraq
March 2003
Brian Walski
Staff photographer: LA Times

48. Photograph ran prominently in:
LA Times
Hartford Courant
Chicago Tribune

49. This moment
never happened.

50. 150 image s 150 image s
British troops Iraqi civilians

51. ze ro .

54. manipulation = bad manipulation = good

55. Fire d.

56. “After a long day, I put my altered
image ahead of the integrity of the
newspaper and the integrity of my craft.
These other photographers are there
[in Iraq] risking their lives and I’ve
just tarnished their reputation.”
~Brian Walski

57. images can be easily altered
manipulation can change meaning
images aren’t “objective”
credibility and integrity of image-maker
fine line of manipulation
demand for dramatic images

58. digital information.

59. Image: orphanjones (flickr.com - cc)

60. Image: Holger Zscheyge (flickr.com - cc)

61. “There were clear cut and dried areas
[of photography]. And now, we no longer
have this metal formed by light, we have
liquid pixels, we have controlled liquid
photos...This is the major revolution.”
~Sheila Reaves

62. liquidity.
anonymity.

63. Lonelygirl15
(Bree)
Images: (c) Peter Yang (http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/14.12/lonelygirl.html)

64. Bree does Lonelygirl15
not exist. is fiction.
Images: (c) Peter Yang (http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/14.12/lonelygirl.html)

65. pe ople didn’ t care .

66. true e nough.

67. Falling Action
“If you can imagine it, you can image
it”

68. Remember:
1) things are not always as they appear
what should we do ?
2) content and context
3) visual culture is in its infancy

69. Remember:
1) things are not always as they appear
2) content and context
3) visual culture is in its infancy

70. Remember:
1) things are not always as they appear
2) content and context
3) visual culture is in its infancy

71. Remember:
1) things are not always as they appear
2) content and context
3) visual culture is in its infancy

72. o o k “ in n o v a t io n s Im a g e in n o v a t io n s
”
?
quotation marks
table of contents
index (cross-referencing)
page numbers
footnotes
citations

73. Re solution
“Learning a new language”

74. Media literacy mass media
Digital literacy Information
information technology
Screen literacy
Visual literacy
L visual stimuli
ite racy
display technology

75. identify access evaluate apply ethics
Images: jsleepr; Dplanet::; incurable_hippie; Divine Harvester (tm); Francois @ Edito.gc.ca (flickr.com - cc)

76. Dé noue me nt/ Discussion
“Where do we go from
here?”

77. librarians .

78. Image: (c) M.J. D’Elia

79. Thank you.
mjdelia.wordpress.ca
M.J. D’Elia
mdelia@uoguelph.ca
twitter.com/mjdelia

80. Image List
Images in this presentation are used under
Creative Commons licenses (unless otherwise noted).
Most images can be found on www.flickr.com under the user names below:
tpmartins margolove Shermeee
andercismo prallin pineapplebun
ElStruthio paulbence_photography John Fravel
gonzales2010 Melissa Maples Anirudh-Koul
IceSabre found_drama Brian Walski x 3 (c)
marttj foxypar4 orphanjones
mightymightymatze simplerich Holger Zscheyge
Andrew Goodwin (c) nep Peter Young x 2 (c)
Incendiarymind dotbenjamin jsleepr
ckaroll sean_dreilinger Dplanet::
N.J. Lee M.J. D’Elia x 4 (c) incurable_hippie
(c)athrine Thomas Hawk Divine Harvester (tm)
Steve Rhodes Ed Yourdon Francois @ Edito.gc.ca
M.J. D’Elia (c)

81. Se le cte d Re fe re nce s
S c r e e n L it e r a c y
Kelly, K. (2008, Nov 28). Becoming Screen Literate. Ne w Y ork Time s Mag az ine .
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/23/magazine/23wwln-future-t.html
V is u a l L it e r a c y
Bleed, R. (2005, Aug). Visual Literacy in Higher Education. Educaus e Le arning Initiativ e .
http://net.educause.edu/ir/library/pdf/ELI4001.pdf
Im a g e M a n ip u la t io n
Brower, K. (1998, May). Photography in the Age of Falsification. Atlantic Monthly .
http://www.theatlantic.com/issues/98may/photo.htm
T h e C a s e o f B r ia n W a ls k i
Irby, K. (2003). L.A. Times Photographer fired over altered image. Poy nte rOnline .
http://www.poynter.org/content/content_view.asp?id=28082
T h e C a s e o f L o n e ly g ir l 1 5
Davis, J. (2006, Dec). The Secret World of Lonelygirl. W ire d, 14(12).
http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/14.12/lonelygirl.html