How People Use Pictures: An Annotated Bibliography and Review for Development Workers

This comprehensive review of materials on visual literacy is useful not only for the references to key articles, but for the essays introducing each section. The first looks at the different ways people use pictures - for religion, propaganda, teaching. Although many pictures and diagrams are universally understood, others depend on the cultural context: 'images are as culture-bound as words and ideas'. PRA maps are discussed as examples of 'pictures and participation'. The point is made that 'pictures can deceive' as people sometimes decide to conceal certain aspects of their communities. Other sections of the review cover: visual literacy in the context of local and national information systems, the relationship between visual and verbal literacy, pictures as codes for reality, communicating ideas with pictures. A section on 'how to' books includes manuals on making visual aids and audio visuals. The review ends with a list by country of places where visual resources might be found.