VISUAL CULTURE – FLORIAN VANLEE
Goals: Being able to highlight this picture. The idea about Trump himself and his
political project.
Women reading Playboy: USP (Unique Selling Product). Produce magazines are
not meant to be read. They are looking at is from a positioning of ‘othering’.
Women are not Playboys audience. They read what the magazine has to say. It is
crucial!
Our lives are full of images that represent the world. Visual Culture does play a role.
READING VISUAL CULTU RE
VISUAL TEXTS
We are surrounded by images:
- News, Politics, Entertainment, Education …
But we have been trained to interpret and analyse written texts
And the ‘muchness’ of the visual often leads us to ‘view’ rather than ‘read’
- It is a safety mechanism to view instead of read it.
This course is about how we can conceive of and approach images as ‘visual texts’
- Classic theories of visual analysis to understand different approaches
- Back-and-forth between theory and method
o Every visual que wants to be read.
o Visual culture is easily overlooked
VISUAL LITERACY
Reading visual texts requires ‘visual literacy’
- Visual literacy is more than the ability to read alone
- Visual literacy presumes insight in ‘styles of reading’ too
Evaluative approach to theory
- We look at the dis/advantages of approaching visual culture from specific perspectives
- Combining the theory of method with the practice of looking
o Apply these ideas to get a visual sense of what they see and overlook. What remains unseen.
Visual literacy’s ‘double use’
- Crucial social scientific competence
- Crucial civil competence
o If each aspect of our lives is linked to visual culture, this has societal and political
consequences.
1
,AFTER VISUAL CULTURE
From ‘viewers’ to ‘analysts’
- Refining and applying visual literacy
- Challenging our ‘way of seeing’
Being critical individuals in a world increasingly dominated by images means being mindful of
- The power of visual representation
- Our socio-cultural reliance on the visual
o How human approach their world visually
This course should benefit anyone in communication sciences – regardless of specialization
- Consider how visual culture and analysis can enrich your BA/MA research!
MAPPING VISUAL CULTURE
He explained the content of every lesson – BORING!
DEALINES AND EXAM
LESSON 2 – ICONOLOGY
2
,29/09/2025
What is in an image?
= Dealing with images with visual content that focusses on the content
(what is being depicted, what is in de picture …)
One dollar bill from the USA
- Features the All-seeing Eye of providence
- Symbolic clues in the public sphere
- Hiding in the dark in any way – out of in the open.
Conspiracy thinking
- = Focusses on the content w/o the other elements.
- Useful
- Must be complemented with other visual clues
IMAGES AND SUBJECT MATTER
John Constable, The Haywain, 1821, oil on canvas, National
Gallery, London
What do we see?
- Haywain (= wart to carry hay after it was collected;
happens at the end of summer)
- Landscape (rural, nature, weather)
- Old town with two horses, people, a river and cloudy
sky.
- It is warm (river is low, shirtsleeves)
No art and historical knowledge needed
- Using our common sense
Evidence present by the text itself
- We didn’t have to look up the life and times of the artist or even find out what a ‘haywain’ is, to
understand the picture.
- It all made perfect sense in its own right.
- Natural cues (weather, nature …)
- Factual cues (characters, time …)
CUES INSIDE VISUAL TEXTS
Primitive but useful method, but loses the general meaning of appoach
- Giving structure to primary interpretation of images
- Disciplined ‘dissection’ of unfamiliar images
- It doesn’t say anything about the time in which the painting was produced.
- Undermining piece of work
3
, o Popularity on calendars, greeting cards and chocolate boxes. It is not difficult to understand.
7 ‘stops’ to make an informed conclusion (=WYSIWYG)
Gives a fair review of what is in the image.
1. Genre: A portret; a picture of a person
2. Subject matter: Angela Merkel
3. Setting: Wherever
4. Era: Today?
5. Season: /
6. Time: Anytime
7. Moment:
1. Genre: Still Life (= inanimate objects such as fruit,
flowers or even household objects.
2. Subject matter: Skull, cup, stationary
3. Setting: Writing Table
4. Era: 16-17th century
5. Season: Winter/Goth
6. Time: Night
7. Moment: Someone stopped writing
1. Genre: Genre piece (=focuses on everyday life
scenes rather than grand historical, religious, or
mythological subjects)
2. Subject matter: Women, umbrella, seaside
3. Setting: Belgian Coast
4. Era: Early 20th or end 19th century
5. Season: Fall
6. Time: High noon; shadow is short, so the sun is high.
7. Moment:
1. Genre: Nude
2. Subject matter: Nude woman, sea
3. Setting: Sea
4. Era: Early 20th century
5. Season: Summer
6. Time: Summer
7. Moment:
4
, 1. Genre: Landscape
2. Subject matter: Hills, sea, forest
3. Setting: Scandinavia?
4. Era: Late Middle Ages
5. Season: Spring (march); people are sewing in spring
6. Time: Morning?
7. Moment:
A portret
= A painting of a person (face, half-body, or full body).
- Could also be a group portrait, or someone with an object (like a book or skull).
- If the person is naked → it’s a nude.
- If it’s an animal → usually called animal painting or equestrian (if with a horse).
Still Life
= A painting of objects (like fruit, flowers, or household things). Even if it’s game pieces (dead animals for
hunting) or flowers, it’s still a still life.
Genre painting
= It’s a scene from everyday life.
Example: people cooking, playing, working, or at home. The key is that it’s ordinary, not a huge historic
or dramatic event.
≠ genre of painting (=category; e.g. portret, landschape …)
(!) Categories can also overlap! (E.g. A still life could appear in a genre painting)
7 STOPS
Easy to apply, but many problems arise
- Common sense (e.g. agricultural; religious)
- Codes, conventions & canon
o Images don’t speak for themselves. We interprete them.
‘Meaning’ of image conjures something external to it
ERWIN PANOSFKY & ICONOLOGY
What the content (what is shown) and substance (meaning behind
it) to make an interpretation of the moment, to talk about the
broader socials and cultural context.
Disguised Symbolism
= Everyday things can have a double life by having both a realistic
and symbolic existence. It has more meaning than we think it has.
Single lit candle during daylight
5
Goals: Being able to highlight this picture. The idea about Trump himself and his
political project.
Women reading Playboy: USP (Unique Selling Product). Produce magazines are
not meant to be read. They are looking at is from a positioning of ‘othering’.
Women are not Playboys audience. They read what the magazine has to say. It is
crucial!
Our lives are full of images that represent the world. Visual Culture does play a role.
READING VISUAL CULTU RE
VISUAL TEXTS
We are surrounded by images:
- News, Politics, Entertainment, Education …
But we have been trained to interpret and analyse written texts
And the ‘muchness’ of the visual often leads us to ‘view’ rather than ‘read’
- It is a safety mechanism to view instead of read it.
This course is about how we can conceive of and approach images as ‘visual texts’
- Classic theories of visual analysis to understand different approaches
- Back-and-forth between theory and method
o Every visual que wants to be read.
o Visual culture is easily overlooked
VISUAL LITERACY
Reading visual texts requires ‘visual literacy’
- Visual literacy is more than the ability to read alone
- Visual literacy presumes insight in ‘styles of reading’ too
Evaluative approach to theory
- We look at the dis/advantages of approaching visual culture from specific perspectives
- Combining the theory of method with the practice of looking
o Apply these ideas to get a visual sense of what they see and overlook. What remains unseen.
Visual literacy’s ‘double use’
- Crucial social scientific competence
- Crucial civil competence
o If each aspect of our lives is linked to visual culture, this has societal and political
consequences.
1
,AFTER VISUAL CULTURE
From ‘viewers’ to ‘analysts’
- Refining and applying visual literacy
- Challenging our ‘way of seeing’
Being critical individuals in a world increasingly dominated by images means being mindful of
- The power of visual representation
- Our socio-cultural reliance on the visual
o How human approach their world visually
This course should benefit anyone in communication sciences – regardless of specialization
- Consider how visual culture and analysis can enrich your BA/MA research!
MAPPING VISUAL CULTURE
He explained the content of every lesson – BORING!
DEALINES AND EXAM
LESSON 2 – ICONOLOGY
2
,29/09/2025
What is in an image?
= Dealing with images with visual content that focusses on the content
(what is being depicted, what is in de picture …)
One dollar bill from the USA
- Features the All-seeing Eye of providence
- Symbolic clues in the public sphere
- Hiding in the dark in any way – out of in the open.
Conspiracy thinking
- = Focusses on the content w/o the other elements.
- Useful
- Must be complemented with other visual clues
IMAGES AND SUBJECT MATTER
John Constable, The Haywain, 1821, oil on canvas, National
Gallery, London
What do we see?
- Haywain (= wart to carry hay after it was collected;
happens at the end of summer)
- Landscape (rural, nature, weather)
- Old town with two horses, people, a river and cloudy
sky.
- It is warm (river is low, shirtsleeves)
No art and historical knowledge needed
- Using our common sense
Evidence present by the text itself
- We didn’t have to look up the life and times of the artist or even find out what a ‘haywain’ is, to
understand the picture.
- It all made perfect sense in its own right.
- Natural cues (weather, nature …)
- Factual cues (characters, time …)
CUES INSIDE VISUAL TEXTS
Primitive but useful method, but loses the general meaning of appoach
- Giving structure to primary interpretation of images
- Disciplined ‘dissection’ of unfamiliar images
- It doesn’t say anything about the time in which the painting was produced.
- Undermining piece of work
3
, o Popularity on calendars, greeting cards and chocolate boxes. It is not difficult to understand.
7 ‘stops’ to make an informed conclusion (=WYSIWYG)
Gives a fair review of what is in the image.
1. Genre: A portret; a picture of a person
2. Subject matter: Angela Merkel
3. Setting: Wherever
4. Era: Today?
5. Season: /
6. Time: Anytime
7. Moment:
1. Genre: Still Life (= inanimate objects such as fruit,
flowers or even household objects.
2. Subject matter: Skull, cup, stationary
3. Setting: Writing Table
4. Era: 16-17th century
5. Season: Winter/Goth
6. Time: Night
7. Moment: Someone stopped writing
1. Genre: Genre piece (=focuses on everyday life
scenes rather than grand historical, religious, or
mythological subjects)
2. Subject matter: Women, umbrella, seaside
3. Setting: Belgian Coast
4. Era: Early 20th or end 19th century
5. Season: Fall
6. Time: High noon; shadow is short, so the sun is high.
7. Moment:
1. Genre: Nude
2. Subject matter: Nude woman, sea
3. Setting: Sea
4. Era: Early 20th century
5. Season: Summer
6. Time: Summer
7. Moment:
4
, 1. Genre: Landscape
2. Subject matter: Hills, sea, forest
3. Setting: Scandinavia?
4. Era: Late Middle Ages
5. Season: Spring (march); people are sewing in spring
6. Time: Morning?
7. Moment:
A portret
= A painting of a person (face, half-body, or full body).
- Could also be a group portrait, or someone with an object (like a book or skull).
- If the person is naked → it’s a nude.
- If it’s an animal → usually called animal painting or equestrian (if with a horse).
Still Life
= A painting of objects (like fruit, flowers, or household things). Even if it’s game pieces (dead animals for
hunting) or flowers, it’s still a still life.
Genre painting
= It’s a scene from everyday life.
Example: people cooking, playing, working, or at home. The key is that it’s ordinary, not a huge historic
or dramatic event.
≠ genre of painting (=category; e.g. portret, landschape …)
(!) Categories can also overlap! (E.g. A still life could appear in a genre painting)
7 STOPS
Easy to apply, but many problems arise
- Common sense (e.g. agricultural; religious)
- Codes, conventions & canon
o Images don’t speak for themselves. We interprete them.
‘Meaning’ of image conjures something external to it
ERWIN PANOSFKY & ICONOLOGY
What the content (what is shown) and substance (meaning behind
it) to make an interpretation of the moment, to talk about the
broader socials and cultural context.
Disguised Symbolism
= Everyday things can have a double life by having both a realistic
and symbolic existence. It has more meaning than we think it has.
Single lit candle during daylight
5
