Its important to recognize that images do not equal reality. In the reading Images, Power, and Politics by Sturken and Cartwright, the point of being educated/informed and wary of looking at images is emphasized.
Images are incredibly powerful and can communicate a lot to a viewer. However, its important to remember that images/photographs are still very subjective. There are two big ways that they are:
1. The viewer's experiences and background.
2. The photographer chooses everything.
The way that everyone sees an image is very different because everyone is coming from different experiences. One great example is the example of the Confederate flag. For some people, that image is an image that evokes the ideals of heritage, pride, and Southernness. However, having not grown up in the South (and not having any Southern heritage), the image of the Confederate flag does not evoke positive emotions for me. It evokes prejudice, slavery, and racism. Neither perception of the image is "less powerful" then another, it is simply powerful in a different manner.
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| Confederate Flag evokes different reactions to the same image |
The second thing to remember is that the photographer that takes a picture chooses when to take the picture, how to take the picture, what part of the scene to focus on, and then how to edit a photo. What that means is that a photo can't completely represent full "realism" in news/media/digital media because someone is still manipulating the image that we, the viewer, are seeing.
This reading was of particular interest to me because I do find that when I see a picture in the news I tend to take it at face value. I often don't stop to consider all the work that went on behind the scenes with the choosing of the shot and then the manipulation of it. I, in no way, think that this "wariness" of images distracts from the potential power of images, it just requires the viewer to be a bit more informed!
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