This methodological form is proposed by Sciences Po, associated with OpenClassrooms, to accompany the students to the BAC and the Graduate studies. We are progressively publishing nine E-methodo sheets designed by high school and science teachers: Write a dissertation, a text commentary, take notes, read a map, do an Internet search, organize your time during a Exam or contest.
Introduction
Why analyze an image? Because the images, whatever their type, necessarily have something to teach us. This visual message has its own language, with its own codes, and always has one or more function (s): communicating, convincing, persuading, criticizing, etc.
To analyze an image, you need to:
- Objectively describe (“what I See”)
- Put in context (“What I Know”)
- Interpret and criticize (“What I Infer”)
Describe the image
Before you start to dissect image compression online and analyze it like a detective, take the time to look at it. It’s not wasting your time. Do not hesitate to write on, surround the important elements, draw lines, etc. The first thing you’re asked is, “What do you see?”
Introduce the subject
First, you will need to be able to identify the type of image and the subject being processed. You will begin this analytical exercise by answering the following questions:
• Who is the author of the image?
• What is the date of creation and/or publication?
• Where was it published? (Country, but also support: newspaper, book, Art Gallery, etc.) Or else, if it is a work of art: where is the work preserved?
• What is the title of the image?
• What is the technique used?
Photography
– Drawing (charcoal, coloured pencils, pastels, etc.),
– Engraving (on copper, on wood, lithography)
– Collage
– Paint (oil, watercolor, acrylic, etc.)
• Can you specify the nature of the image?
-Press/Caricature drawing
– Topical photography (this can also be a political photograph, a documentary photograph, etc.)
-cultural, political or advertising poster
-Postcard
-Cartoon Board
– Work of art (this can be a painting, a photograph, a drawing, a collage, etc.)
• What is the format of the original image?
• Has the image been altered? Was it cropped compared to the original? Has it been reworked on Photoshop (for example)?
• What is shown on the image? What is the topic, the main theme?
-Characters? Known or not? Policies? Stars? Men? Women? Animals?
– a symbol
-A landscape
– An Object
– A scene, a battle, a known event
– What is the theme: religious, secular, historical, political, advertising, etc.
– Is there a relationship between the title of the image and the subject?
From these elements, you can already briefly make an inventory and present the image by naming the author, the year, the source of the document and the main theme.
