Making Images Speak

To be an educated person most often means this: be a rational thinker through reading many books. I love reading books; that is not hard to do. I also enjoy writing papers. I spent most of my life pursuing knowledge in academic institutions so that I could be a credential teacher who helps people think. But recently, I reacquaint myself with a craft I learned earlier when I was a young man: visual arts.

Visual arts can inspire, provoke and challenge their audience beyond the cognitive level; they take them to the territories of emotions and psychological realm. Think of those good and thoughtful movies that you have seen, they most likely have the power of fostering personal and social change even when one is still seated in the theater. Throughout human history, visual images have always been the medium by which humans learn. Most people in the past did not know how to read and write. Before or even after the printing machine was invented, most people learned by watching icons, paintings, monuments, and listening to authoritative figures such as tribal elders telling stories. While we may feel comfortable living in a western culture where knowledge is closely associated with printed words, the contemporary pop culture is such that it opens wide the doors for teachers, religious or otherwise, to relearn the power for images to foster personal and societal change.

I am not talking about using images such as Powerpoint or paintings as tools to aid learning, although I think wise teachers should do them. My point is that images are not merely TA (teachers’ assistants); they are teachers. Images teach without even uttering a word. In the case of human rights and many societal issues, there are times we write books, draft documents and give speeches, there are times we use images and visual media to offer the public an eye to see inhumane perspectives and practices. The value of visual arts goes beyond the humanistic love of aesthetics but is a partner in pursuing social justice and accountability. Being the eyes of the invisible and the mouth of the voiceless form the core of being a responsible human being living in community. (photographed by Fanly Lai)