Behind the lens: Being critical of visual media key to Vanier Scholarship

How can the power of images and photographs better inform us?

Clorinde Peters, a doctoral student in English and Cultural Studies, wants to shed more light on the power of images and the people who make them.

Her research into photography, and the various ways to create a better understanding of visual literacy, is highly topical — especially in an age where photography and images bombard us on a daily basis.

“We are at a time where image making is ubiquitous and we are making more images than ever before. We are sharing them, they are in the media, and they are being used in different ways,” said Peters. “All of these things require a new reanimated understanding of visual literacy.”

Peters was recently awarded a Vanier Canada Graduate Scholarship, along with eight other recipients from McMaster.

The scholarship is recognized as one of the most prestigious of its kind in Canada, and will provide Peters with $50,000 per year for the next three years to advance her research.

“Historically, photography has been and continues to be used as a kind of document of proof … There is also this contradictory role where we know that the camera lies and the photographer can create a shot or image that may not be completely representative.”

Developing new visual literacy and finding ways to educate the public is key to Peters’ work, with the hope that better literacy will lead to better civic engagement. Understanding what is present (and not present) in images holds great political potential, she explains.

“I think that photography holds a unique place, in terms of offering up critique and exposing certain kinds of concerns about our contemporary moment in politics and society.”