READING THE

IMAGE
EVELYN B. CRISTOBAL
ISABELA STATE UNIVERSITY
SAN MARIANO, ISABELA
INTRODUCTION
 

In our world of multi- and visual media, we must expand

our notion of what a text is and how we must read it. As more
texts are used to convey information print once did, we must
bring to these visual texts critical literacies that will help us
construct meaning from their elements.
LEARNING OUTCOMES

At the end of the topic, you are expected to:

 
a. Categorize various planes in art;
b. Analyze the given photo on contextual plane;
 VARIOUS PLANES IN ART
1. SEMIOTIC PLANE

Semiotics is the theory and study of signs and symbols,

especially as elements of language or other systems of
communication. Common examples of semiotics include traffic
signs, emojis, and emoticons used in electronic
communication, and logos and brands used by international
corporations to sell us things—"brand loyalty," they call it.
• A person who studies or practices semiotics is a semiotician. Many
terms and concepts used by contemporary semioticians were introduced
by the swiss linguist ferdinand de saussure (1857–1913). 
EXAMPLES: SIGNS
2. ICONIC PLANE

The iconic plane includes the choice of the subject which may bear social
and political implications. Few words are more over-used than “iconic”.
Often when I hear it used, I think what the speaker really means is
‘recognizable’, ‘famous’, or even ‘ubiquitous’. ‘ICONIC’ simply because
it is instantly recognizable.
EXAMPLE:

Eastern church . A representation of some sacred personage, as christ or a saint or angel,

painted usually on a wood surface and venerated itself as sacred.
Computers. A picture or symbol that
appears on a monitor and is used to
represent a command, as a file drawer to
represent filing.
The facebook logo comes closer to the
meaning i am trying to understand. It is a
corporate logo but the image conjures up
broader meanings as well; the power of
social networking… the loss of
privacy… the next generation of the
information age. It would be hyperbole
to suggest that it represents human
interaction in the early 21st century but I
think it conveys more just a corporate
identity.
This Pulitzer prize-winning
photo is what comes to mind
when anyone mentions
Vietnam. It is not just because
it depicts the horrors of that
war but because it depicts
them live before the
camera lens.
3. CONTEXTUAL PLANE

It analyzes the artwork in a different perspective. It looks at an

artwork on a cultural, social, or political context. It is often used by
historians, art critics, or sociologists.

ELEMENTS OF CONTEXTUAL PLANE:

 HISTORY
 AUTHOR
 INFLUENCE
 REACTION
EXAMPLES:

The spoliarium is a painting by

Filipino painter Juan Luna. Luna,
working on canvas, spent eight
months completing the painting
which depicts dying gladiators.
The painting was submitted by
Luna to the Exposición Nacional
de Bellas Artes in 1884 in
Madrid, where it garnered the first
gold medal.
The Mona Lisa is a half-length portrait painting by the Italian
artist Leonardo da Vinci. It is considered an archetypal
masterpiece of the Italian Renaissance, and has been described
as "the best known, the most visited, the most written about,
the most sung about, the most parodied work of art in the
world". 
THANK YOU…