{"id":23851,"date":"2019-04-12T18:52:55","date_gmt":"2019-04-12T22:52:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.frankwbaker.com\/mlc\/?page_id=23851"},"modified":"2023-12-17T05:42:14","modified_gmt":"2023-12-17T10:42:14","slug":"is-seeing-believing-visual-literacy-for-the-21st-century-digital-information-age","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.frankwbaker.com\/mlc\/is-seeing-believing-visual-literacy-for-the-21st-century-digital-information-age\/","title":{"rendered":"Is Seeing Believing: Visual Literacy for the 21st Century Digital Information Age"},"content":{"rendered":"

(NOTE: This lesson plan has been prepared specifically for the SC State Department of Education and may appear
\non its web site in a slightly altered form.)<\/p>\n

Is Seeing Believing:
\nVisual Literacy for the 21st<\/sup>\u00a0Century Digital Information Age<\/strong>
\nby Frank W. Baker\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0fbaker1346@aol.com<\/a>
\nTarget grade levels: 5th<\/sup>-12th<\/p>\n

\nBackground
\nThe digital manipulation of images is widespread: but despite what many believe, it is not a new phenomena. Images have been manipulated since the start of photography. Learning to read photographs, and to question them, is part of what is today known as \u201cvisual literacy.\u201d\u00a0 All too often, our students believe everything they see.\u00a0 Exposing them to images, and teaching them how to both question and \u201cread images,\u201d is one way of teaching them critical thinking and critical viewing skills\u2014both essential skills in the 21st<\/sup>\u00a0century.<\/p>\n

Standards
\nNational
\nNCTE\/IRA Standards for the English Language Arts
\n<\/strong>Standard 6
\nStudents apply knowledge of language structure, language conventions (e.g., spelling and punctuation),\u00a0media techniques<\/strong>, figurative language, and genre to create, critique, and discuss print and nonprint texts.<\/p>\n

South Carolina
\n<\/strong>Guiding principle #8 from the 2008 ELA Standards encourages teachers to consider teaching with and about the media.<\/p>\n

SC<\/strong>\u00a0Standards & Indicators<\/strong>
\nUnderstanding and Using Informational Texts<\/strong>
\n5-2.2, 6-2.2\u00a0 Analyze informational texts to draw conclusions and make inferences.<\/p>\n

5-2.3\u00a0 Analyze a given text to detect author bias (for example, unsupported opinions)
\n5- 2.8, 6-2.8\u00a0 Predict events in informational texts on the basis of cause and effect<\/p>\n

relationships.
\n7-2.2 Analyze information within and across texts to draw conclusions and<\/p>\n

make inferences.
\nE1-2.7, E2-2.7 Analyze propaganda techniques in informational texts.
\nE3-2.7, E4-2.7\u00a0 Evaluate propaganda techniques and rhetorical devices in informational texts.<\/p>\n

Definition of Non Print<\/strong>
\nSources of information that are not primarily in written form (e.g. pictures and\u00a0photographs<\/strong>, TV and radio productions, the Internet, films, movies, videotapes and live performances). Some nonprint sources may also contain print information.<\/p>\n

Non Print Sources of Information Support Document (excerpt)<\/strong>
\nPhotographs, pictures and other images exist everywhere in the world of our students. From books, to magazines, newspapers and billboards, images are a big part of their world. What do we want students to know and understand about visual images? How do students derive meaning from what they view? Students should recognize that photos\/images are texts too, non-print texts. And like all texts, they need to be studied and understood for how they are created to make meanings. This can start in elementary school with picture books and helping students understand how images can be \u201cread.\u201d Photographers\/image makers use a number of techniques to create pictures. Those techniques include color, framing, focusing, depth-of-field, perspective (point-of-view) and more. Viewers of photos\/images bring prior knowledge, experience and more to these texts. Since photos can also be digitally alerted, it is important for students to be able to question images, much the same way as they do traditional texts. Additionally, photos and other images can be catalysts to help motivate students\u2019 writing.<\/p>\n

\nTeacher preparation<\/strong>
\nThe teacher will introduce the topic of the digital manipulation of images by:
\n– showing the short 7 minute videotape except: The Digital Manipulation of Images
\n(http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=pNYPEuZDjS0<\/a>) from\u00a0“Is Seeing Believing? How Can You Tell What’s Real?”
\n– selecting one or more of the background readings for students
\nhttp:\/\/www.frankwbaker.com\/isb.htm<\/a>
\n– engaging them with the lesson plan of a famous Civil War photograph (posted below)<\/p>\n

Background on the videotape:<\/strong>
\nFollowing a recent visit to the Newseum, a wonderful new museum devoted\u00a0to journalism and news established by the Freedom Forum Foundation in\u00a0the Washington, DC area (a must-stop on your next visit there), I\u00a0discovered an outstanding 22-minute video and teaching kit created to help middle and high school students explore the artistic and ethical\u00a0issues involved in “altering” photographs through digital imaging.<\/p>\n

Now an excerpt from “Is Seeing Believing? How Can You Tell What’s Real?” is available (via YouTube) Teachers who utilize newspapers and\/or mainstream news magazines (Time, Newsweek, etc.) in the classroom\u00a0will be especially interested in using this resource, as will arts educators.<\/p>\n

The video, a 22-minute excerpt of an hour-long PBS series entitled\u00a0“Media Matters,” begins by explaining that in the traditional process of\u00a0news photography over the decades, ” the image itself was rarely\u00a0tinkered with.” But things are now different. “Today’s computer\u00a0technology makes such alterations not only easy, but also undetectable. And it’s happening a lot\u2026”<\/p>\n

Following several recent controversial examples — the head of former\u00a0Texas Governor Ann Richards placed on the body of another woman sitting\u00a0astride a motorcycle; TIME magazine’s darkening the cover photo of O.J.\u00a0Simpson’s mugshot, and National Geographic moving the Egyptian pyramids\u00a0so that they appeared closer together — we hear from art designers and\u00a0photographers, news editors and photojournalists exploring whether the\u00a0manipulation was proper or warranted in each instance. Along the way\u00a0students see exactly how a computer can alter a photograph seamlessly\u00a0and perhaps most importantly, hear how even so-called experts are\u00a0wrestling with the issues involved.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Introducing the Civil War photograph lesson<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Lesson Plan
\nI suggest that teachers project (on a SmartBoard or screen) the photo \u201cHome of the Rebel Sharpshooter\u2019s Den\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Suggested website:\u00a0\u00a0http:\/\/www.civilwarphotography.com<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Teachers should log onto the Library of Congress web page and download and read \u201cThe Case of the Moved Body\u201d \u00a0(don\u2019t give this to the students yet)
\nhttp:\/\/memory.loc.gov\/ammenm\/cwphotml\/cwpcam\/cwcam3.html<\/a>.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

What is presented here are readings from noted Civil War photographer Alexander Gardner, which correspond to particular photographs, originally published as\u00a0Gardner\u2019s Photographic Sketch Book of the War<\/em>. Gardner worked for the famous Civil War photographer Mathew Brady. Of particular interest is the photograph now known as \u201cThe Home of the Rebel Sharpshooter\u2019s Den\u201d by Gardner.<\/p>\n

http:\/\/memory.loc.gov\/ammem\/cwphtml\/cwpcam\/cw00171.jpg<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Teachers may wish to download this photo and create an overhead transparency of it. Historian William Frassanito, in his book\u00a0Gettysburg:\u00a0 A Journey in Time<\/em>, contends that the soldier\u2019s body was, in fact, moved to the location of the den.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Teachers may have students read the accompanying piece
\n\u201cDoes the Camera Ever Lie?\u201d<\/p>\n

http:\/\/memory.loc.gov\/ammem\/cwptyml\/cwcam\/cwcam1.html<\/a><\/p>\n

Introduce the language of photography by reading \u201cWord and Image<\/em>:
\nThe Language of Photography\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

http:\/\/www.time.com\/time\/teach\/archive\/981012\/text5.html<\/a>
\nto the students. This is a good site that introduces students to some of the key concepts in photography.<\/p>\n

 <\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

\nWithout giving them any context or background, students should be encouraged to ask questions about the image. Some of the questions they might ask include:<\/p>\n

– when and where was the picture taken?<\/p>\n

– what were the circumstances that led the photographer to take this picture?
\n– is the solider in the picture asleep or dead?
\n– how did his gun get in the position it is in?
\n– who took the photograph and why?
\n– did the solider fight for the North or the South?<\/p>\n

After students have exhausted their possible questions, the teacher can then reveal:
\n– the photograph is an original from The Civil War
\n– the photographer was Alexander Gardner
\n– the solider is dead
\n– the soldier\u2019s body WAS MOVED from its position on the Gettysburg battlefield to the den\u00a0 (at which point the teacher should ask students: \u201cWhat question do you want to ask now\u201d?\u00a0 And the WHY question will come up\u2014in other words, what was the purpose, why did the photographer move the soldier\u2019s body?)<\/p>\n

Background<\/strong>
\nIn general, teachers and students need to know that photography was still in its infancy during the 1860s in America. There were no high-speed shutters, which today, can \u201cstop\u201d a race car going 150 mph. President Lincoln, for example, had to sit still in a chair in a photographic studio for many minutes at a time, in order for the photographer to open the shutter, expose enough light on his photographic plate, to get an acceptable (non-blurry) image. For this reason alone, there are no photographs of actual Civil War battle action scenes.<\/p>\n

The photo, \u201cHome of the Rebel Sharpshooter\u2019s Den\u201d was published and distributed in its time as one way of swaying public opinion against the war. By seeing the horrors of a dead solider, with his gun, or hundreds of dead soldiers on a battlefield, the photograph and its accompanying caption, could communicate to readers much more than words alone. Discuss the phrase, \u201cA picture is worth a thousand words.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n

\n

\n

Contemporary Images and the Manipulation of Images
\n<\/strong>Just about every image on every woman\u2019s magazine has been manipulated.
\nBut detecting that manipulation is difficult.\u00a0 Photoshop and other manipulation software is in use by artists, graphic designers and others.\u00a0 Students can be encouraged to locate before (alteration) and after images of celebrities, for example.
\nSome celebrities have even criticized major publications or instigated legal action.
\nWhat kind of control does a celebrity or sports star have over his\/her image?
\nWhat about the \u201crights\u201d of photographers? These and other issues are ripe
\nfor student discussion and research.
\n
\nBackground readings<\/strong>: The author has posted a number of recent news articles and essays about the digital alteration of images. Those can be found by going to:
\nhttp:\/\/www.frankwbaker.com\/isb.htm<\/a><\/p>\n

See also\u00a0 Visual Literacy resources\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0http:\/\/www.frankwbaker.com\/vis_lit.htm<\/a><\/p>\n

\n


\nRecommended texts<\/strong><\/p>\n

Image Ethics in the Digital Age\u2014University of Minnesota Press\n<\/p>\n

Underexposed:\u00a0 Censored Pictures and Hidden History\u2014Jacobson, ed.\n<\/p>\n

Picturing the Past:\u00a0 Media, History, and Photograph\n<\/p>\n

Phototruth or Photofiction:\u00a0 Ethics and Media Imagery in the Digital Age\u2014Wheeler<\/p>\n

Photo Fakery: The History and Techniques of Photographic Deception & Manipulation
\n– Brugioni<\/p>\n

\n

Other resources<\/u>
\n<\/strong>Now available:\u00a0Ethics In The Age of Digital Photography<\/a>\u00a0(DVD: 1 hour)
\nproduced by the National Press Photographers Association
\nDescription: This 60-minute DVD by John Long offers suggestions for dealing with the
\nethical implications of the electronic revolution in photojournalism. With some examples
\nof digital manipulation and the problems caused by altered images, this video touches on
\nthe principles that support ethical decision-making.<\/p>\n

The People’s Choice: Digital Imagery and the Art of Persuasion<\/a>\u00a0(lesson plans)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

(NOTE: This lesson plan has been prepared specifically for the…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"","_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[203],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-23851","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-is-seeing-believing"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.frankwbaker.com\/mlc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23851","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.frankwbaker.com\/mlc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.frankwbaker.com\/mlc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.frankwbaker.com\/mlc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.frankwbaker.com\/mlc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=23851"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.frankwbaker.com\/mlc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23851\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":23852,"href":"https:\/\/www.frankwbaker.com\/mlc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23851\/revisions\/23852"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.frankwbaker.com\/mlc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=23851"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.frankwbaker.com\/mlc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=23851"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.frankwbaker.com\/mlc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=23851"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}