visual literacy

The book defines visual literacy as "your awareness of the importance of visual communication and your ability to interpret or make meaning out of images by examining their context and visual features".  In simpler terms, what is the picture saying both literally and artistically. An example of this could be the image of the falling man from 9/11. Literally, it is a picture of a man falling. Metaphorically, one could say that this image represents the end of American innocence. How quickly he fell to this death could represent how quickly our country was changed forever. The fact that after 22 years, we are still uncertain of his identity could mean that he represents our country as a whole, like the tomb of the unknown soldier in Arlington National Cemetery represents all of the unknown soldiers from each war the US has fought. 

Visual literacy is an essential skill. As they say, a picture tells a thousand words. Considering we ingest hundreds of images and videos every day, it is important that we are able to fully understand what they mean. In a political climate as heated as ours, one must be able to make their own opinion and decipher what is truthful and what isn't. Visual literacy can aid in that so that you can see for yourself what an image or video is saying.