The picture

This book is an original compilation of contemporary knowledge about the image, and a means of expression and communication, but it is also a manifestation of thought. The main issues raised by the image are revealed through six successive approaches: the image is a perceptual phenomenon (physiology of perception), but it is also a subject viewed from the perspective of a spectator (psychology); it establishes a relationship with this spectator through a mediator and a specific device (sociology, mediation science); it can be used for many purposes and has different values (anthropology); it has recognized social importance during significant moments of change (history); finally, it has its own power that distinguishes it from language and other human symbolic manifestations (aesthetics). All images — handmade or automatically produced, static or moving — are considered in this research, which aimed not to forget any theory or approach, and which takes into account the latest developments.