Evolution of Media

We can look at images and we are allowed to see, interpret, and self-define what the image is. The image can be a drawing, photograph, or even a textual display with a color background. We see these images on an everyday basis and at times we just take them for granted. What we don’t know until we learn is that it is “visual literacy”. Behind every image we see is a story with a meaning from the creator and the audience he is trying to reach.

In our text, visual literacy is defined as the competent creation and consumption of visual messages. However, Brian Kennedy describes visual literacy is the ability to construct meaning from images in his video “Visual Literacy and Why We Need it”. The two definitions describe that the ability to understand the message through the images is necessary. Merely looking at something does not mean that you are ingesting the message that the visual is trying to portray. Kennedy describes the imaginative process as something that happens with our eyes, our eyes actual seeing, and the eyes of our minds. Two individuals from different walks of life could look at the same painting and have different interpretations of what the artist is trying to convey. I don’t necessarily think there is a right or wrong answer of what the message really is, but the fact that a painting can open a person’s mind is the goal that most artists want to achieve. The difference between these two definitions is the text book indicates that you must have a comprehension of either the artist/creator and their genre of work before actually looking at the visual. Once you look at the visual, piecing the background information that you have already attained and the actual visual would make more sense. Bill Kennedy’s definition is received as creating your definition once you look at the visual.

In today’s world, I think that Bill Kennedy’s definition is more accurate, especially with children. Prior to my career now, I used to be a pre-school teacher; when reading stories to the children, I would only use books with no words and have the children interpret the story using their imagination. It was amazing how many different versions I received with the same story which they all heard at the same time.