Hariman, Robert and Louis, John

Rhetoric Review, Indiana, 2001

Web

Summary:

The article “Visual Rhetoric, Photojournalism, and Democratic Public Culture” by Robert Hariman and John Louis analyses how Rhetoricians have traditionally directed their attention on the power of  words in a ever-changing digital space. The assessment provides an insight to the role that iconic photographs are portrayed within American culture. Many photographs reflect a unique visual literacy, which shape our understanding towards specific events in each of our lives. By doing so, visual images tend to influence behavior, identity, but they are paramount  in photojournalism as we shift into the twentieth-century.

Critical analysis:

The article is useful for providing unique perspective photojournalism and suggest how iconic images can affect the viewers emotional reservations. Although, visual images intensifies the visual experience of a viewer, it can present a unwarranted challenge.

Perhaps this could be useful to think about the visual structures and their positioning in American culture.