The Power of photographs...

Now we all knows that pictures says a thousand words but do we all agree with this idea and according to Walsh (2006), pictures give more meaning using visual grammar. A function of a picture is to create a meaning and helps the audience or readers give an understanding of what it is trying to say. For example look at the picture below:

http://pasturescott.files.wordpress.com/2007/06/starving-child.jpg

By looking at this picture without any words, readers already get the meaning where a single child dies from starvation. Therefore, everyday we should be thankful with what we have cause there are thousands of people who are suffering from starvation. For readers to be able to interact with pictures and text in order to contruct their meaning is based from our knowledge, background, experience and thier schemata (Putnis, Peter and Petelin, Roslyn, 1996).

Kress and van Leeuwen (2006), perspective is that visual communication is becoming less and less the domain of specialist (referring to task engineers, doctors, artist handle); more and more domains of public communication: 'grammar' of description (images) taught through education needs to be employed.

Do Pictures Lie?

With new digital technology and softwares, original pictures just turn out to be edited so the question is, do pictures lie or not?

http://news.cnet.com/2300-1026_3-6033210-1.html?tag=mncol

http://news.cnet.com/2300-1026_3-6033210-18.html?tag=mncol

According to J.D. Lasica (1988), ' people believe in news photograph. They have more inherent trust in what they see than what they read. Digital manipulation throws all pictures into a questionable light. It's a gradual process of creating doubts in the viewer's mind'. In my opinion, pictures, sometimes do lie although this depends on the situation.

Photographic and video images can reveal great truths, expose wrongdoing and neglect, inspire hope and understanding and connect people around the globe through the language of visual understanding (National Press Photographers Association, 2008).

Photographs should create expressive meaning rather than editing. Isn't original pictures better than edited pictures? Think about it...




References:

ABC Radio National 2007, The Power of Photograph, viewed 11 November 2008, <http://www.abc.net.au/rn/mediareport/stories/2007/2051819.htm>

CNET news.com 2008, Photos: Pictures that lie, viewed 11 November 2008, <http://news.cnet.com/2300-1026_3-6033210-1.html?tag=mncol>

Online Journalism 1989, Photographs that lie, viewed 11 November 2008, <http://www.jdlasica.com/articles/WJR.html>

Walsh, M 2006, The 'textual shift': Examining the reading process with print and visual and multimodal texts, Australian Journal of Language and Literarcy, vol. 29, no. 1, p.24-37.

National Press Photographers Association 2008, NPPA Code of Ethics, viewed 11 November 2008, <http://www.nppa.org/professional_development/business_practices/ethics.html>

Washingpost.com 2007, Photos worth a thousand lies, viewed 11 November 2008, <http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/25/AR2007012500556.html>

Kress, G and van Leeuwen, T 2006, Reading Images. Chapter 1: The semiotic landscape: language and visual communication.

Putnis, Peter and Petelin, Roslyn 1996, 'Writting to communicate', in Professional communication.