In this activity, participants puzzle over what is happening in a picture, and write captions. This leads to a discussion about stereotypes and making judgements.

They say that a good picture is worth a thousand words.
 

Issues addressed

• The perpetuation of stereotypes and prejudice through the media
• The use and misuse of images to provide information and to evoke emotive responses

Aims

• To explore how pictures are used in the press
• To develop skills of critical analysis

Preparation / Materials

• Find five or six pictures from magazines, newspapers or the Internet, and mount each one, without any caption, separately on a large sheet of paper.
• Write the captions on separate strips of paper for use at the end of the activity.
• Strips of paper, pens and glue; tape to attach pictures to the walls

Instructions

1. Tape the pictures to the walls around the room.
2. Give participants strips of plain paper and ask them to look at each picture in turn and then to write a caption on a slip of paper. When everyone is ready, stick their captions under the pictures.
3. Compare the captions the group have written.
4. At the end, stick the real captions above each picture.

Debriefing and evaluation

• How easy was it to write captions? Did you try to write a summary of what you saw or something humorous and eye-catching?
• How many different interpretations were there of each picture?
• Did different people see different things in the same picture?
• Were there surprises when the original caption was revealed? Had anyone guessed what the picture was actually about?
• When you see a picture in a paper, magazine or on the Internet, which do you look at first: the caption or the picture?
• To what extent do pictures show the truth of what happened in a situation?
• How do editors, politicians and others use pictures to convey information, arouse emotions and provoke sympathy?
• What sorts of pictures do you post on social media? How do you choose them?
• Can you trust the pictures you see on social media?
• How can you check the veracity of pictures in the media and in publications?
• What can you do if you see some blatant misuse of images?

Tips for the facilitators

Try to find pictures which can be interpreted in different ways. For instance, a picture of a travellers’ mobile living ground with 10 pitches. One person may only “see” the rubbish left behind on two pitches while another person may “see” eight clean ones.

You may find The New York Times an interesting source of images. Every Monday morning by 7 a.m. (EST), a photograph is posted with no caption, no headline nor any helpful links back to an article; it poses the question, ‘What’s going on in this picture?’. The answer – the caption – is posted the following Thursday. Search using “The New York Times what's going on in this picture” with a date.

Suggestions for follow-up

Take action: Be more aware of how pictures are used on the Internet and on social media, in newspapers, advertising and in charity appeals. Set the group a challenge to see who can find the picture which has been used in the most positive way and another which has been used in the most misleading way.

Move on to another activity: If the group has lots of energy, they may like to try ‘Force the circle’, which is about exclusion and power relationships in society.