Duncum's Seven

There are numerous ways to view, examine, and dissect imagery, but Duncum has provided us with his own 7 Principles for Visual Culture Education. As Duncum says, Power is the key principle because most others intersect with issues of power, but what I thought was most interesting is that it's not the image itself that is powerful. An image cannot be powerful on its own because the viewer can choose whether or not they want to accept the image's message, and we can make that choice by answering a few simple questions, such as: What did the image maker intend? How did you interpret the image? Do you agree with  the image maker's message? 

Ideology is the 2nd principal and is the ideas, beliefs, and values found in the image. As discussed in the text, examining past and current political ad campaigns along with viewing and deconstructing works Instrumentalist art (among many other things) are great examples of ways to find Ideology in imagery. As Duncum points out, however, Ideologies represent viewpoints as opposed to incontestable truths because they vary and are contradictory. This means that the Ideology of works may or may not be consistent with current cultural themes because our world and our views are always changing. 

The next principle is Representation, which is described as how Ideology is presented in visual form. What does an image represent? What does it fail to represent? How? These are questions we, as viewers, must ask ourselves in order to find and understand the meaning of images. Even slight changes, such as framing and viewing angle change our relationship with the subject or image and the available meaning. An example given in the text of exploring the principle of Representation is looking at how different cultures and/or groups are represented in photos, movies, on T.V. etc. After discovering patterns in how different groups are represented, such as African Americans and Hispanics often being represented in negative ways, we must also look at what is left out all together. "What or which groups are not represented at all? 

Images are also seductive in a variety of ways, and Seduction is the 4th principle Duncum discusses. Imagery can be seductive in its subject matter and what it represents, for example: Is it beautiful or sublime? When ideologies are presented in pleasant forms, that appeal to the body, they are more likely to gain the viewer's exceptance and are more difficult to reject. Isn't that why advertisements are designed the way they are? A prime example of that is the whole "sex sells" thought to advertising, and by appealing to both men and women in different ways, we are more likely to accept the messages being communicated.

How we look at images and the circumstances under which we look at them is called Gaze, the next of Duncum's principles. An important point is the difference between gazing and glancing; gazing occurs when we spend time viewing works at a museum or similar situation, while glancing is what we do in our frantic, everyday lives as we try and take in the imagery around us. Duncum states that Gaze throws a spotlight on the viewer and our context. We are invited by images to see them in a particular way, but we also have existing relationships to what we see and must ask ourselves, "Why do we view images the way we do?" As individuals, our answers may sometimes be similar, but they will never be the same because we all see imagery and Gaze in different ways.

Intertexuality and Multimodality are the last two principles and are similar in the sense that they both discuss how images do not function on their own. Intertextuality is about how images relate to one another and with other cultural texts such as poems, books and music, while Multimodality claims that there are no purely visual images because they never appear without words, music, or sounds. The meaning of an image can be changed by changing the sound, music, or words that accompany it which would also change how that same image relates to everything around it. 

To demonstrate some of Duncums's principles I have chosen to examine the above PETA ad. Designed to create an extremely POWERful response in the audience, this particular image shows the "slaughtering of humans" in order to end our consumption of animals. As Duncum states however, I have the choice of whether or not I want to accept the images message, and as a meat eater (although I'm not advocating animal cruelty) this image will not have it's desired effect on me. In fact, it makes me want to go have a big cheese burger, because all I can think of when I see it is how proposterous it is because there are more than enough cows in the world. This is a prime example of how powerful OR powerless in image can be. It also conveys PETA's ideology and beliefs clearly to the viewers, even though we may not share the same beliefs. The image is not presented in a pleasurable form, however, and just as Duncum states that makes it easy for me to reject it's message.