Week 7 - Visual Narrative and the Media

Is there such a thing as a “universal picture”?

This is an interesting question. As a photographer myself, I have always asked the same question. Studies in the past have shown that the existence of 'universal pictures' do not exist. Deregowski (1989) states that there are differences the perception between cultures. This shows that the usage of 'universal pictures' is not possible. Additionally, Kennedy (1974) explains that different cultures favor different interpretations of ambiguous drawings or comment in different ways on the significance of frozen postures. However, it should be noted that these studies are quite dated and nowadays, the distance between countries are decreasing due to the rise of the Internet.

With the Internet, it is now possible for people around the world to see pictures that are not just limited to their own cultures. People can transcend the boundary between nations and communicate together over long distances. Over the years, the usage of the Internet have given rise towards the usage of pictures with captions which are humorous in natures. These images have become part of the Internet culture and they are dubbed as Internet memes. (Chen, 2012). The usage of these memes throughout the Internet again brings the question about 'universal pictures' and how pictures seen. For example, observe the pictures below.

If these pictures were shown around the Internet, most viewers can understand the concept and humor of it but if shown to viewers who are not familiar to Internet culture, they will have difficulty in understanding the humor of caption and picture. These pictures as Internet memes only cater for those who have access to the Internet (Knobel and Lankshear, 2007). Therefore, it cannot be considered as 'universal pictures'.

In conclusion, there is no 'universal picture' that exists in the world at the moment but on the other hand, with the advent of globalisation, the discovery and usage of 'universal pictures' is certainly plausible.

References:

• Chen, C. (2012). The creation and meaning of internet memes in 4chan: popular internet culture in the age of online digital reproduction. Habitus, 3, 6 - 19.

• Deregowski, J. B. (1989). Real space and represented space: cross-cultural perspectives [Electronic version]. Behavioural and Brain Sciences, 12, 51 -119.
  

• Kennedy, J. M. (1974). Picture perception across cultures and species. In J. M. Kennedy (Ed.)  A Psychology of Picture Perception (pp. 65 - 84). San Francisco: Jossey-Bass Publishers
  

• Knobel, M. & Lankshear C. (2007). Online memes, affinities, and cultural production. In M. Knobel (Ed.) & C. Lankshear (Ed.) A New Literacies Sampler (pp. 119 - 228). New York: Peter Lang Publishing Inc.