Analyzing images. We are bombarded with visual images nearly as much as we're inundated with verbal information. We carry images on our PDA devices, on our computers, on Facebook and other network pages. Images populate our books and magazines and newspapers, whether we read their print or electronic versions. Images are all around us in the form of ads, commercials, pictures, photographs and more. In fact, much of the information that we receive comes our way via images.

For this reason, we need to become both more conscious of, and more critical about the prevalence of images in our lives. Images, like words, communicate information, convey feelings and express ideas and ideals. In order to understand what images communicate, convey, and express, however, we need to improve our ability to analyze and interpret them.

The common saying that an image is worth a thousand words suggests that it can take a thousand words to explain what is implied in an image. And although that may seem like an exaggeration, it bears a considerable amount of truth. Also, like words, images have the power to bring us to tears, as well as incite us to laughter. Images stimulate our interest, engage our curiosity and prod us to action. Images can turn us on and turn us off. They can excite and disgust us, inspire and terrify us.

We have all seen photographs that make us smile or make us cry, that amuse and amaze and astonish us. And, we have seen films that delight and entertain, provoke our thinking, stimulate our imagination and engage our deepest feelings. For all these reasons and more, a close look at images is warranted.