How Framing Affects Our Understanding

A key principle in media literacy is critical inquiry:
asking questions like: who or what is left out of the message and why?

In photography, the person shooting the picture can manipulate the image by:
- moving closer to or further from the subject
- adjusting the lens to zoom in closer, or pull out to seem further away
- changing the focus
- changing the depth-of-field
- deliberately placing objects inside the viewfinder/frame

                                             

Photos taken for publication in newspapers, magazines, or web sites, 
can be sized or cropped depending on the space allotted. 

Compare and contrast these news photos: notice how each successive photo
reveals a bit more about the event.

Recommended Links: 
Keepers of Bush image lift stagecraft to new heights
Bias & Manipulation in Photographs
Discovering How Images Communicate
How Media Products Make Meaning
The Power of the Camera
 Understanding How Still Images Make Meaning


 

Wed Oct 22,2003

US President George W. Bush (L) and Indonesia President Sukainoputri Megawati shake hands during bilateral meetings in Denpasar, Bali
 

Wed Oct 22, 1:03 AM ET

U.S. President George W. Bush, left, meets with Indonesia's
President Megawati Sukarnoputri at Patra Bali Airport Resort and Villas in Bali,
Indonesia, Wednesday, Oct. 22, 2003. Bush is in Indonesia to discuss the
ongoing war against terrorism. 


10/22/2003 01:04 EDT


U.S. President George W. Bush, left, reacts to photographers entering the 
room during his meeting with Indonesia's President Megawati Sukarnoputri, 
second left, as Indonesia's top security minister Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, 
right, and Megawati's husband Taufik Kiemas, second right, look on at Patra 
Bali Airport Resort and Villas in Bali, Indonesia, Wednesday, Oct. 22, 2003. 
Bush is in Indonesia to discuss the ongoing war against terrorism. 
(AP Photo/Charles Dharapak)
 

Wed Oct 22, 1:37 AM ET

U.S. President George W. Bush, left, and Indonesia's President
Megawati Sukarnoputri, second left, meets with Muslim and other religions leaders,
from fourth left to right: Hasyim Muzadi; Ahmed Syafii Ma'arif; Azyumardi Azra;
at Patra Bali Airport Resort and Villas in Bali, Indonesia, Wednesday, Oct. 22, 2003.
Other religious leaders are unidentified. Man third from left is Indonesian Foreign
Ministry official Dino Patti Djalal. Bush is in Indonesia for short visit to discuss
the ongoing war against terror. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak)

Wed Oct 22, 1:39 AM ET

U.S. President George W. Bush, seated beside Indonesian
President Megawati Sukarnoputri, meets with moderate Muslim leaders at the
Indonesian resort of Bali during a three-hour stay October 22, 3003. The leaders
were expected to tell Bush that U.S. policies in the Middle East, seen as favoring
Israel, are one of the root causes of terror attacks in Asia. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque