The Digital Student

1. LOOK – what are your initial impressions?​

2. READ - Read the text about the image if there is any.​

3. EXAMINE - What does the text add to your understanding e.g. background​

4. DESCRIBE – what does the text add to your description and understanding of the image?​

5. CHECK UNDERSTANDING – what else do you need to know more about e.g. date photo was taken; where it was taken etc.

Cultural and Social Context

• Consider time period, medium and subject matter
• How does the image represent people?
  • Individually? Representatives of a group?
• Consider relationships among people and objects
• Think about social and economic status

Suggestion and Metaphor

• Image's impact can come from use of suggestion / metaphor
• Consider the context of the image
• Image may have symbolic meaning

Captions and

textual information

• Usually accompanies the image​
• Information about a collection the image is part of​
• Formal description​
• Names of rights holders​
• Information about the time period, geographic locations etc.

Our Fake News LIbGuide can help you determine whether the media you are using is reliable