Summary of Visual Methodologies, by Gillian Rose

The book of the British geographer and researcher Gillian Rose explores the methods used in interpreting and analyzing the visual culture from different critical perspectives, showing the strong and weak points each of them has.

The central idea of the first chapter is that the same image is perceived by different people in different ways, being distorted considerably and losing part of the significance that was supposed to be transmitted. This primary significance contains the truth about the image, and, for retaining it, different instruments have to be used.

Semiology, audience studies, compositional interpretation, analysis of content and psychoanalysis are some of the instruments used in determining how people perceive the message of the images from the communication media and what their impact is.

To illustrate the necessity of using a critical approach in visual culture, the author gives the example of a poster used by the Conservative Party for the 1983 elections. It represented the image of a young, black man, and the slogan was "Labor says he's black, Tories says he's British". Although the purpose was to attract the votes of a certain electoral segment, the message corresponded to the way in which the image was perceived by people having different political views.

While, in case of paintings, the consistency and shade of the color used by the artist are the main factors that determine the reaction of the viewers, in a documentary photography, the details are those that matter the most, so the public's opinion is greatly influenced by them.

However, Rose also notes that, not only the political appurtenance or the psychological structure of the audience is important in studying the impact of the visual culture, but also the social status of the "receptors" of a certain image. According to her, this is the main reason why viewing an image cannot be considered a purely "innocent" act, but a complex process, that has to be analyzed from the compositional, social and technological point of view.