“Visual Historical Methods”

Adapted in part from an article by Perlmutter[1]

Mr. Schwartz

Visual historical analysis and interpretation: 1) search for and identify primary historical meanings; 2) explain the historical significance of the meanings

· Primary historical meanings: meanings associated with the image by those who created it; and when possible, by those who viewed it and wrote about it during the time period under study.

Basic Questions:

· How did an image maker chose to frame, compose, and populate a visual field to convey meaning?

· What role did the image play in the lives of those who created it, or who paid for, displayed, and used it?

Rhetoric: the art of persuasion in speech, writing, and visual imagery

· Just as written arguments are based on the arrangement of words on the page, so images put forward “arguments” though the arrangement of objects in space.

Step One. Identify the image: author, title, and date.

Where possible, collect background information on 1) the author; and 2) the production of the image—for whom it was created and where it appeared.

Step Two. Check criteria for inclusion or use in your project.

· Does the image come from the period you are studying? [If it does not, it should not be included or its inclusion has to be justified on historical grounds.]

· Does the image establish, complement, or enhance the point you are trying to make?

Step Three. Study the image and search for historical meanings.

Objects of study and categories of meanings:


Content	Objects displayed
	Location in space
	Location in time
	Narrative function

Expressive aim	Emotions represented
	Emotions meant to be evoked
Figurative meaning	Explicit or implicit associations
	Explicit or implicit suggestions
Rhetorical-moral meaning	Political lesson
	Moral lesson
Societal or Period meaning	Issues, matters, ideas, conflicts, circumstances of the period that are revealed or suggested
Comparative meaning	Objects juxtaposed to bring out similarities or differences in attributes
Context	Physical: location and setting
	Verbal: captions, etc.
	Situational: issues, circumstances,
Narration

Step Four. Report you interpretation

Main point concerning the image’s historical meaning
Pertinent elements of the image that establish that meaning
Connections with ideas, topics, or sources in your project

Step Five. Compose a caption for the image, normally and the bottom of the image.

· Author, title, and date

· If your interpretation is not spelled out in the accompanying text, then compose a capsule interpretation within the caption.