Visual Perspective Jaclyn Baglos

Aesthetics vs. Communication and Rhetoric Visual Aesthetics: the creation and appreciation of art Visual Communication: how images and objects convey meaning Visual Rhetoric: how visuals communicate meanings that reinforce or challenge beliefs and behaviors

History First visuals: 9000 BC Pictograms-pictures that resemble what they signify Ideograms-pictures that resemble ideas

Nature of Visuals Visual Culture: countless ways visuals are used in everyday life Visual rhetoric is being used to understand the world around us Visual literacy: set of skills required to “effectively find, interpret, evaluate, use, and create images and visual media” Images and objects utilize “visual language” Rules that relate to color layout, texture, sequencing, imagery, style, animation, and sound

Visual Theory Perspectives Gestalt Theory Semiotics Theory Cognitive Theory

Gestalt Theory Max Werthimer: “The whole is different from the sum of its parts” Belief: Brains group items based on what goes together and what doesn’t

Gestalt Theory Principles Similarity: group things that look similar Interest is piqued when something is different Proximity: Two forms Associate things that are or appear to be close to each other Notice things that are or appear to be close to us Continuity: the desire for a smooth continuation of movement Closure: “seeing” an object as complete even when it’s not Common Fate: mentally group objects that appear to be going in the same direction Interest is piqued when something is going the opposite direction

Semiotics The study of signs Semiosis: relationship between a sign (which represents an object, referent) and a meaning (interpretation) Examines the social meanings of visual objects and its effects

Semiotic Signs and Meanings Syntagmatic: gain their meaning from the signs that surround them in a static image Paradigmatic: gain meaning as they fit with or in contrast to other signs Denotative meanings: what we notice first, easy to decode Connotative meanings: underlying messages related to social norms and practices Metonymic signs: associated with something else, serve to represent that something else Synecdochal signs: part of something else that serves to stand as a whole

Cognitive Theory Focuses on what is going on in our minds when we view an image or object and how it affects our perception Psychoanalytic theory is used to examine mediated popular texts Focus primarily on how the mind, psyche, and unconscious are constructed Visual pleasure theory is the main psychoanalytic theory

Visual Pleasure Theory Visual images in media encourages viewers to look pleasurably at images via a male gaze Male gaze: Describes the way viewers look at people presented in visual images by identifying with only the male actor Viewers gaze upon images in a way that influence our beliefs

Psychoanalytic Theory, Scopophelia, and Narcissism Mirror stage: symbolizes an ongoing sexual relationship we have with body image Scopophelia: love of or pleasurable looking Ex. Women being portrayed as sexy in advertisements Narcissism: excessive self-love based on self-image

Constructs of Visual Pleasure Fetishism: getting pleasure from openly looking at objects that are satisfying in itself Voyeurism: instances where people engage in sexual, sordid, or scandalous acts are being watched without them knowing it Narcissism

Conducting a Visual Pleasure Analysis Select an Appropriate Text Examine the Text Describe the image via voyeurism, fetishism, and narcissism Evaluate Potential Implications of the Text Consider the target audience Ex. Primary audience for magazines are 18-49 year-old women wishing they looked like the celebrities in the magazine photographs