Pictures anyone?

As the saying goes ‘a picture is worth a thousand words,’ a picture is a very important asset in document design. Kress and van Leeuwen (2006) also stressed the importance of pictures. Schriver (1997) said that readers can well remember a picture even after a long time seeing it. Thus, making a picture a powerful tool in presenting information to the audiences. In ‘The power of the photograph,’ we can see that photographs can evoke people’s emotion and it is said that images in newspaper are what newspaper editors want the public to see.

While in the Internet, people have the freedom to put on whatever picture they deem to be suitable. The Internet has been the culprit for the easiness of spreading photographs and pictures such as the Edison Chen’s case and the post-mortem picture of Nurin.

Nurin Jazlin

We might think that the photographs are worth forwarded to others but is it suitable for your audiences and is it ethical? The spreading of Edison’s photo is already an invasion of others privacy while for Nurin’s photo, it is disrespect to the victim. But why many still circulate it? I personally think that it is hard to choose between being ethical and showing others the truth behind a story.

Edison Chen's Scandal

There are even photographs of Indonesia’s brutality in killing Chinese girls circulated in the e-mail. This type of gruesome images is not suitable for Malaysians. Even in road advertisement, Datuk Ong Tee Keat tried a different approach saying that gruesome scenes are not that suitable for the audiences (The Star 2008).

As Schriver (1997) said, it is important to look at the audience and the context. Sexually explicit photographs are also not suitable for Malaysian context. So be aware of what photographs you are putting on as a designer even if it can help to convey your messages and it is always important to be ethical.

References
ABC 2007, The power of the photograph, viewed 9 November 2008, <http://www.abc.net.au/rn/mediareport/stories/2007/2051819.htm>.

Kress, G & Van Leeuwen, T. 2006, Reading Images, Routledge, New York

Mageswari, M 2008, Nurin’s dad sues cops, Government, media release 22 August 2008, The Star, viewed 10 November 2008, <http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2008/8/22/courts/22142870&sec=courts>.

Schriver, KA 1997, Dynamics in document design: creating texts for readers, Wiley Computer Pub., New York

The Star 2008, Hong Kong actor Edison Chen says he took racy photos, apologizes, media release 21 February 2008, The Star, viewed 10 October 2008, <http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2008/2/21/apworld/20080221181303&sec=apworld>.

The Star 2008, Transport Ministry to give facelift to road safety drive, media release 14 May, The Star, viewed 10 November 2008, http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2008/5/14/nation/21241138&sec=nation