Visual literacy, as a relatively recent concept, is certainly becoming more widely accepted as a fundamental competency for twenty-first-century living. The term is attributed to first being coined by the American writer John L. Debes in the 1960s. Debes not only worked as a technical writer for the Eastman Kodak Company but developed his role as an educationalist in the fields of photography and communication, particularly by creating youth programmes. He became a co-founder of the International Visual Literacy Association (IVLA) and was editor of the Journal of Visual Literacy.

Photography as a medium creates a sense of direct communication with its audience.

Artists and art students since the 1960s will be very familiar with the notion of visuality as a way of seeing the world in new ways, and engaging intellectually with what we see. Visual thinking took on new meanings with works by authors such as Rudolf Arnheim (Visual Thinking, 1969; Art and Visual Perception, 1954) and John Berger, with his seminal 1973 text Ways of Seeing.

Arnheim states that there are three ways to engage with artworks to enable 'visual thinking': picture; sign; and symbol. Understanding the role of the formal elements, such as colour, line, texture, shape, space, form, and tonal value helps the viewer consider the composition, structure and messages within an image.

In America particularly, visual literacy holds a position of prominence in educational terms whilst in the UK, visual literacy has been much slower to take hold as a learning tool. Visual literacy is now beginning to surface within educational and cultural sectors more explicitly. In this article, we explore the development of visual literacy as a key competency, which should, and does, have far-reaching potential – more often than we might first assume.

The writings in Paul Klee's 1961 notebook, The Thinking Eye, show that the artist was working on similar concepts, parallel to Arnheim, in terms of visual literacy, but from an artist's perspective rather than a psychological one.

What is visual literacy?

At its most basic, visual literacy can be interpreted as an ability to 'read' images. However, this simple explanation only scratches the surface of what is an ever-evolving understanding of how we view the world through images, and how we interpret and use that information. Debes' definition – outlined in 'The Loom of Visual Literacy' in 1969's Audiovisual Instruction – is more holistic: it is 'the group of vision competencies a human being can develop by seeing and at the same time having and integrating other sensory experiences'. This implies a complex process, which activates a range of stimuli when we are engaged in looking carefully and taking notice.

This image evokes sunlight, cosiness and nature: the viewer connects what they look at with memory and the senses – feeling the warmth emanating from the yellows and light colours.

The IVLA offers more contemporary descriptions of visual literacy. These build on the notion of complexity, and highlight the wide-ranging competencies that are developed as 'an interconnected set of practices, habits, and values for participating in visual culture that can be developed through critical, ethical, reflective, and creative engagement with visual media'. This means that visual literacy is much more than a set of formal visual components that we can utilise to comprehend an image in terms of its structure: it is a set of skills that enable us to engage with an image through the senses, emotionally and intellectually, and on a range of levels.

A Trompe l'oeil of Newspapers, Letters and Writing Implements on a Wooden Board

This image is at once historical, and yet its themes of communications and memorabilia, materials and texture, are very contemporary. Our curiosity is activated to encourage close looking and wondering.

Why is visual literacy important today?

Given the very relevant and important capabilities that visual literacy engenders, we can begin to recognise how it can be applied in our day-to-day lives. Once the domain of artists and craftspeople, the art of careful looking has found its way into a surprising range of disciplines, such as law, psychology, history, science and medicine, where observing detail and interpreting, reviewing and reflecting critically on those observations is essential. We can look to lawyer and art historian Amy Herman for inspiration, who argues that looking closely and noticing details can change lives and even save lives. She discusses her work in a TED talk.

Amy Herman gives the example of how a radiographer used an understanding of negative spaces in a painting to accurately read and interpret MRI scans.

There is, however, another reason why visual literacy is so vital in today's world; the use of artificial intelligence to alter and adjust images for ideological and political gains creates a real challenge, particularly with the exponential accessibility of social media. There is an urgent need for us to be able to engage critically with images, whether they are false or not, as images have become so prevalent on digital and media platforms. In his 1997 essay on visual literacy, writer and art educationalist Philip Yenawine states: 'Many aspects of cognition are called upon, such as personal association, questioning, speculating, analysing, fact-finding, and categorising'. A questioning and analytical mind is an antidote to misinformation. The ability to make associations and judgments based on keen observation is a tool for maintaining well-being in an often challenging contemporary world.

Climate change is possibly the most pressing issue of our time, yet misinformation and denial theories are abundant through digital images on social networks.

How does looking at art help us develop visual literacy?

As exemplified by Amy Herman's TED talk, art is powerful. When we look at an artwork, we not only see it with our eyes, but we perceive it in the context of our own life experiences and personal knowledge. This is important, as it allows for flexibility of thought and imagination, without the stress of having to find the 'correct' interpretation or answer. Unless a viewer is schooled in art history, the artist's intention for creating a piece of art is often unknown. The viewer brings their own memories, their own 'noticings', their own culture and questions to what they see, so visual literacy is very different from pursuits such as art appreciation or art history.

Individuals engage with art in personalised ways that evoke memories, emotions, cultural experiences, attitudes and values, enabling new questions to arise.

How do we become visually literate?

Visual literacy it is not a 'skill' in itself, but it is competency acquired through developing a set of skills, many of which have already been mentioned in this article.

Yenawine reminds us that the necessary set of skills accumulate in an uneven way, over time and with practice, and are often dependent upon what we see, and how open we are to challenge. This is borne out through empirical research by Abigail Housen, which revealed that participants' visual literacy progressed in predictable ways based on their experiences. Housen's 'Theory of Aesthetic Development' includes the following five distinct stages:

Accountive – seeing and saying
Constructive – personal perception, values and knowledge
Classifying – analysing, criticality and seeing patterns
Interpretive – seeking underlying meanings
Recreative – making universal connections and thinking abstractly

The five stages indicate that 'reading' an image relies on sophisticated cognitive strategies, connecting how and what we see with how and what we think. Read more in Housen's presentation 'Eye of the Beholder: Research, Theory and Practice'.

We use a set of skills to engage with an image on a range of levels. The more we see, the more there is to perceive and contemplate.

Slow looking

The slow-looking movement is a particularly useful strategy for developing visual literacy. This involves looking at a still image for several minutes, letting the eye travel around the piece, noticing and absorbing the colours, shapes, lines, tones, textures and details. The aim is to see even a very familiar image with fresh eyes and to notice elements and features that have previously escaped attention. This process raises 'what if' questions and reveals unique insights.

It is said that a person looks at an artwork, on average, from two to 25 seconds. Extending that time to five or even ten minutes allows for thoughtful noticing.

To conclude, visual literacy has become a vitally important competency for the fast-paced, visually saturated world in which we now exist. Looking at art is a powerful part of our toolkit to develop our ability to see with our eyes and our minds, due to the individual and open-ended nature of how we respond. Developing visual literacy will encourage creativity and critical thought, and help to protect us from misinformation, no matter what field or profession we are in. It enhances how we engage in viewing and understanding the world around us.

Susan Ogier, Senior Lecturer in Education at the University of Roehampton