Visual Language Lecture

In our first 'official' lecture, the subject of the contextual practice was 'visual language'. We were shown a picture of an apple and throughout the lecture taught about the images we see everyday and how we perceive them. In the end we learnt that we were not looking at an apple, we were looking at a picture of an apple.

A picture of an apple.

We were taught that the apple, very much like the one in the above image, is not really an apple at all. In fact we shouldn't perceive it as an apple because the image has probably been altered so much because of Photoshop editing and airbrushing that it really isn't what it originally was. It's too perfect, no blemishes and the stalk looks too neat. Therefore it is not an apple, it is in fact a picture of an apple.