Visual Sources of History

“The camera doesn’t lie” is an old saying that seemed to have considerable truth for many years. Many people consider still “Seeing is believing” another popular maxim, whether in motion or in still photography, people believe what they see. Certainly, for the historian, the knowledge of the modern periods has been enriched greatly by the collection of visual records that have survived. These collections provide life and colour to our understanding of the past and provide a more accurate experience than reading a printed copy. Some images are created as a representation of reality. Photojournalism and documentaries are examples of this area.

There are different categories of visual sources, which can be used as a source of history. Paintings, photographs, cartoons, and films comprise the principal categories of visual evidence most widely used by historians. Each variety provides unique insights and each poses specific analytical questions for researchers. These sources can help us “be there” in the past. They can provide evidence of past history in ways that words on the printed page simply cannot describe. They can also help us interpret the past in new ways by letting us see things visually rather than in our imagination based on our reading. From this body of evidence, researchers can deduce the attitudes, assumptions, and values of the audience.

Paintings

Paintings form the first category of visual evidence. It ranges from the cave paintings of the people of early cultures to the digital paintings of the contemporary periods. In the early times, it was part of 'the work of art' of ancient cultures and many of the original paintings were lost during the course of time. The earliest paintings portray the geographical sceneries, animals, individuals and their aspects of life, etc. The cave paintings provide the primary source for reconstructing a different aspects of ancient cultures. Modern paintings emerged as the cultural expression of a society, which helps the historian to infer valuable clues of the period.

Photographs

Still, pictures have been used to document life since the middle of the nineteenth century. Fortunately, many of these photographs are still available to the historian. Photographs may offer a more accurate visual image than paintings. They may also be staged, with the photography ultimately controlling the picture that is taken. A picture may indeed be worth a ‘‘thousand words’’ but it is the interpretation and analysis provided by the researcher that brings meaning to the photograph. Paintings and photographs are the creations of the artist; yet, the pictures they produce offer another type of evidence of great use to researchers. These sources not only reveal important images; they also provide insights into the mind and world of the artist and the times. The composition of crowds at events may offer unique glimpses of different cultures and present information not intended by the artist or photographer.

Cartoons

Analysis of cartoons raises other issues because they reflect the times in which they were produced in such different ways. In the original meaning, a cartoon was a drawing on more or less permanent paper intended as a prelude to a painting of the same subject. A second meaning of the term is more familiar: a drawing, usually in a newspaper, that may be satirical or humorous. In this sense, cartoons provide rich insights into both the artist’s perceptions and how individuals or events were understood by contemporaries. These sources assume certain knowledge by the viewer and must be used carefully.

Film (See Film as a Source of History)

The film is the final example of a visual source type used for historical analysis. Certainly, the film is a powerful tool for seeing and hearing history. Films can both visualise and document the past. It provides us with the sights and sounds of a recreated past that can have a powerful impact on us. The film may be valuable to achieve an understanding of the culture and times in which the film was produced or to provide insights into what it valued, or found humorous, but films differ profoundly from other visual resources. A film can put us “there” in ways that the printed page simply can never accomplish. But it can also distort, falsify, or simply ignore historical truth.

Dealing with the Visual Sources

• In assessing works of art, it is essential to know something about the artist, as well as the motivation and purpose of the work. Historians need to understand the reasons the creator made the image and the context in which the image was made. It is also necessary to consider: What influenced the photographer to take the picture? What limitations were there? What choices were there in capturing reality? What images were not taken? Were the images modified? How and why? It is equally important to think about how portraits and paintings are to be used in the research being conducted.
• In dealing with the visual sources, the historian must consider the technical and artistic aspects of the creation of that vision. Lighting, focus, positioning, and framing also could be looked at in the analysis of the visual document. In a photograph, it will help to determine the importance of an individual, his dominance, and the projected emotions.
• In utilizing film and videotape, the researcher is confronted by the fact that these media are edited easily. In many instances, it is difficult to perceive the point or nature of the changes. It is therefore valuable to have some understanding of the editing process.
• Since the beginning of photography, the visual record has been manipulated. In the past, the negative or first-generation videos frequently were kept. However, the increased likelihood of the new media cases the frequent manipulations. Manipulation can occur before and after the shot is taken by changing or staging the elements of the picture. Hence, the knowledge of the technology and tools of various visual media is essential for a historian, who uses visual sources.
• Often photographs or videotapes are taken of family, or other events, and provide a record of time and place. Many of these works were done without professional training and, therefore, include technical problems that may contribute to difficulty in analyzing the material.
• The audiences of the period of those visuals also must be considered within the context of their times and expectations.

Docudramas, feature films, and the like are produced for many different purposes. While they may illuminate aspects of the past, they are the creation of the film artist and should not be used in the same way as written, oral, or other visual sources. Susan Sontag in her critique of photography noted the purpose of an image and the role of the historian in understanding the past through that image. “Photographs are not windows which supply a transparent view of the world as it is, or more exactly as it was. Photographs give evidence often spurious, always incomplete—in support of the dominant ideologies and existing social arrangements. They fabricate and confirm these myths and arrangements.” She further states that the images tell us what we should look at what is in the world. The historian’s job is to help make sense of this world through critical analysis—an analysis that has become more important and more complicated in the digital age of the visual.