Strategies for Analyzing Visual Images

1. Examine the image holistically
what does it represent? What is your initial reaction? Does it convey a message?

2. Consider the nature of the image
Is this a professional portrait or a candid press shot?
Was this video taken at a prepared ceremony or a spontaneous event?
Were people, images, or objects deliberately posed to make a statement?

3. Examine perspective
Is the subject depicted n close-up or at a distance?
Does the subject appear in control of the environment or does the background clash or dominate the frame?

4. Analyze contrasts and contexts
Is the background supportive, neutral, or hostile to the subject? Does the image
depict conflict or harmony?

5. Examine poses and body language of human figures
How are human figures depicted? What emotion do they seem to express?

6. Look for bias
Do you sense the photographers were trying to manipulate the people or events depicted,
casting them in either a favorable or negative light?

7. Consider the larger context
Does the image offer a fair representation of a larger event or an isolated exception?

8. Review the image for possible manipulation
Could camera angles or retouching have altered what appears to be a record of actual events?

9. Consider the story the image seems to tell
What is the thesis of this image? What visual details or symbols help tell the story?


from Chapter 3, page 50, Critical Reading, “The Sundance Reader” (4^th Ed, 2006) Mark Connelly, Thomson/Wadsworth