ABSTRACT
This chapter surveys the sociocultural history of image-making from Plato to drone selfies. The aim is to briefly and succinctly lay out how visual representation has been constructed, considered, and made use of as part of human development. According to visual theorist Elkins, there are two general types of image. There are pictorial images which are natural and mimetic. Any history of human-generated images must begin with their earliest instance: cave paintings. Depictions of people and animals on the walls of caves from some 40,000 years ago successfully capture what their makers saw and experienced: themselves as hunters hunting and their prey. Conceptualizing and/or engaging in abstract thought depends on the kind of organizing that visual thinking entails and supports in the people minds. Fifteenth century portraitists worked hard to make it look like they did not—work hard. Benjamin emphasizes vast variation in people’s perceptions and perspectives when it comes to the visual in daily life, particularly photography and film.
