ABSTRACT
This chapter makes a distinction between the terms image on the one hand, and depiction or picture on the other. The word image is often used interchangeably with other terms to mean ‘what the picture shows’, which is consistent with a copy theory of perception. In order to further the distinction between images and depictions, the chapter discusses two examples of research using visual material, one involving photographs provided by an overseas aid agency, the other using photographs made by respondents themselves while in hospital. Making a distinction between image and photograph, and removing the idea of image from picture content, hopefully encourages psychologists to ‘look behind’ as well as to ‘look at’ photographs. It alerts psychologists to the need to investigate not just what pictures show, but the act of picturing, its potential and its limitations.
