Théories de photographie

Ghita El Alaoui

November 6th, 2018

COM 2304 – 02 (Monday/Wednesday 7:30pm)

Reaction paper 2 (Perceptual theories – Lester)

        In this text, Lester discusses the perceptual theories of visual communication. He starts by stating the visual attributes that the brain responds to which are: color, form, depth and movement. He first talks about the difference between visual sensation and visual perception: visual sensation refers to a stimulus from the exterior environment and visual perception means the conclusion made by the combination of visual information gathered by sensual organs (eyes, ears…). He then introduces the five principal theories that are divided into two categories: sensual, which states that pictures are mainly composed of light and not much of anything else; and perceptual, which refers to the way humans relate to images they see.

Lester starts the discussion with sensual theories which are composed of three components: the gestalt approach, constructivism and ecological. It refers to the fact that the phenomenon of movement wouldn’t happen without a brain that make individual sensual elements interact. This approach was first introduced by a psychologist called Max Wertheimer. The different elements in a scene interact according to a series of laws: law of similarity, the brain selects the least complex form to focus on; law of proximity, the brain associates items that are situated closely; law of continuation, the brain prefers smooth changes in movement rather than brutal ones and law of common faith, which states that a person automatically groups arrows going in the same direction, opposition may create a disturbance.

[pic 1]

This picture represents the law of proximity, as we see people close to each other as very close emotionally and personally.

Another important aspect discussed by the author is the phenomenon of reversible figure and ground. It is the inability to distinguish between the background and the foreground of a picture. In the same vision, Edgar Rubin discussed the famous figure that looks like both a vase and a face depending on the conscious decision a person makes, which leads us to the concept of camouflage, meaning the inexistence of a separation between background and foreground.

Lester then introduces the two other point of views, constructivism and ecological. Constructivism refers to the criticism of the gestalt approach. It states that perceptions are described rather than explaining how they give meaning to a picture. Hochberg described the gestalt approach as being too passive, whereas constructivism emphasizes on the viewer’s eye movement through using an eye-tracking machine that follows the eyes’ movements as they are in motion.

The ecological approach was introduced by James Gibson and states that the study of visual perceptions should include subjects. He claims that visual perception isn’t only a combination of images and that the changes in ambient optical array are automatically processed by the brain.

        In the second part of the reading, the author discusses the perceptual theories of visual communication. It includes semiotic and cognitive theories. Semiotics refers to the study of signs and a sign is a form that stands for something else. The most famous philosophers of this theory is Augustine, a Greek philosopher, Ferdinand de Saussure from Switzerland and Charles Sanders Peirce from the US. The last two are contemporary philosophers of the idea. According to Lester, there are three types of signs: the iconic signs which are the easiest to interpret, indexical signs that are logical and use common sense connection, however they take more time to interpret; and symbols, which are abstract signs that have no logical connection and have to be taught. The second theory is cognitive which states that a viewer arrives at a conclusion through mental processes and connections. It includes different parameters starting with memory, which is the main component of the mental process; projection is when a person projects their state of mind into an unanimated item; expectation, refers to the negligence of some aspects that lead to a misconception of the image; selectivity, the way the brain selects the information and the picture that appeals the most; habituation, the act of ignoring visual stimuli that are part of a person’s everyday life; salience, the more a stimuli has a meaning to a person, the more it will be noticed; dissonance, the fact that the brain can only focus on one activity at a time; culture, the way people talk, react, think, behave and practice religion is affection the visual perception of someone; and words, the way we use words deeply impacts the way a person sees a picture or an image.  

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