How Do We Analyse Visuals? On Visual Literacy and Methodologies
The other crucial element that I would like to emphasise on my current intervention, which is a digital platform to archive and curate Indonesian visuals, is how the curators don't only curate the visuals, but also provide information and narration of the visuals to the audiences. There are millions ways to synthesize an image, and choosing the best method for it sounds like a tough task for my project right now.
I came across an excellent book, Visual Methodologies by Gillian Rose, which examines critical approaches to visual materials and applies it to my upcoming intervention. Rose explains the three necessities for a critical approach to interpreting visual images, which are:
Takes images seriously.
Thinks about the social conditions and effects of visual objects.
Considers your own way of looking at images.
Therefore, Rose proposed a simplified yet intricated method on how to analyse a visual based on three aspects: technological modality, compositional modality and social modality which elaborated on a diagram below:
Another method that I found useful is based on de Saussure's semiotics that divides visuals' into three aspects of analytical methods: visual form, content and context. The following diagram was obtained from my former lecturer in my BA course, which helps me a lot for understanding the subject matter.
