iconology
Picture Theory
On 20, Dec 2015 | In Picturebooks | By Chris Vitale
Mitchell, W. J. T. Picture Theory. Essays on Verbal and Visual Representation. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1994. Print.
Referrer: Carrie Hintz
Categories: picture theory, visual language, definitions, iconology
Annotation:
This longer work discusses picture theory in depth. The picture and it’s meaning are expounded upon to a great degree in this important endeavor. Concepts like visual language, iconology, visual narrative, are all given their footing in Mitchell’s text. Mitchell is attempting to give credence to pictures and their representational nature. Mitchell points out that there is a “pictorial” turn happening that forces us to ask what work pictures are involved in. He does this in relation to film as well as the use of visual images to influence sociopolitical and cultural moments. His main goal is to establish “picture theory” as a way to understand the function of the medium. In order to marry art, photography, and other visual cultures, we need to create a singular unifying theory.
Understanding comics
On 20, Dec 2015 | In Picturebooks | By Chris Vitale
McCloud, S. Understanding comics: The invisible art. New York: Harper Collins (1994).
Referrer: Chris Vitale
Categories: picturebook, visual storytelling, comics, illustration, iconology, genre, definitions
Annotation:
McCloud created a comic book that acts as a guide to reading comic books. In depth descriptions regarding visual iconography, the definitions associated with the genre, as well as the way that text and illustration are interdependent and related is the main focus of the text. The book acts as a reference point for reading both comics and other illustrated forms of literature. The dynamics between psychology and color are given fair attention. McCloud’s text is an overall analysis of the medium of comic books. By building a reference guide to illustrated literature as a piece of illustrated literature, McCloud achieves a referential work that defines and explains the importance of the multimodal narrative.
