Image analysis: an interactive approach to compositional elements

Hook, Derek and Glăveanu, Vlad Petre (2013) Image analysis: an interactive approach to compositional elements. Qualitative Research in Psychology, 10 (4). pp. 355-368. ISSN 1478-0887

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Abstract

This article proposes an interactive approach to the analysis of compositional elements of still visuals. This approach stems from the argument that the rhetorical efficiency of images is related less to their content per se than to how this content is displayed and organised. As such, we start from the premise that images are "active," performing the visual equivalent of speech-acts (i.e., "image-acts") through which they construct the world and its impact upon their viewers. In their turn, the audiences of an image participate in interpreting its meaning and responding to its particular "action." This leads us to formulate a method based on the active engagement of researchers with the image at hand. We suggest a classification of compositional elements and identify ways in which such elements can be analyzed and interpreted, thus casting light on the range of rhetorical and ideological effects that images so often achieve.

Item Type:	Article
Official URL:	http://www.tandfonline.com/toc/uqrp20/current
Additional Information:	© 2013 Taylor and Francis Group, LLC.
Divisions:	Psychological and Behavioural Science
Subjects:	H Social Sciences > H Social Sciences (General) H Social Sciences > HE Transportation and Communications N Fine Arts > N Visual arts (General) For photography, see TR
Date Deposited:	16 Jul 2013 12:15
Last Modified:	20 Nov 2024 06:39
URI:	http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/id/eprint/51103

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