ABSTRACT
Depiction is the kind of representation that pictures – ordinary, “still” pictures – display. A picture depicts whatever it is a picture of. There are many kinds of representation: along with listing pictures, we might include words, theatrical performances, hand gestures, or road signs. Not all of these represent in the same way. Depiction is the way of representing that distinguishes pictures from other representations. That's not to say that every picture depicts. Some purely abstract pictures don't represent anything at all. Nor is it to say that a picture depicts everything it represents. A painting might depict a woman who in turn symbolizes the sufferings of Russia. The picture in some way represents Russia's suffering, but it does not depict it. Nonetheless, every representational picture depicts at least some of what it represents. That's what it is to be a picture of something.
