Finding Images and Other Visual Resources: Visual Literacy

"How Do You Look?" is a set of exercises to promote visual literacy, designed by the Nasher Museum of Art at Duke University

Alicia Creus, The Princess and Her Keeper, 1995-1996. Mixed media collage, fabric, lace, artificial flowers, embroidery floss, glass beads, oil paint on linen; 65 1/4 x 67 inches (165.7 x 170.2 cm). Collection of the Nasher Museum of Art at Duke University, Durham, NC, USA. Museum purchase, 1998.10.1. © Alicia Creus, https://sites.nasher.duke.edu/hdyl/wp-content/uploads/sites/12/2012/12/1998_10_1_v1_700.jpg

Visual Thinking Strategies (VTS) is a method initiated by teacher-facilitated discussions of art images and documented to have a cascading positive effect on both teachers and students.

"Visual literacy is the ability to find meaning in imagery. It involves a set of skills ranging from simple identification–naming what one sees–to complex interpretation on contextual, metaphoric and philosophical levels. . . .

Visual literacy usually begins to develop as a viewer finds his/her own relative understanding of what s/he confronts, usually based on concrete and circumstantial evidence. It eventually involves considering the intentions of the maker, applying systems for thinking and rethinking one’s opinions, and acquiring a body of information to support conclusions and judgments. The expert will also express these understandings in a specialized vocabulary."

–Philip Yenawine, co-founder of Visual Thinking Strategies

"To spot high-quality images, you’ll need to draw on your basic visual literacy skills"