ABSTRACT
This chapter describes visual means for expressing the validity of images, a topic which traditionally has been dealt with under the heading of ‘realism’. The chapter argues that, in images and other visuals, validity is signified by the degree to which particular means of visual expression are used – the degree to which detail is represented, the degree to which background is represented, the degree to which colour, depth and tonal variety are used and so on. In different contexts, different ‘coding orientations’ favour different validity criteria, based on different definitions of ‘reality’. While in contexts that value photorealism simple line drawings may have low validity, in scientific contexts they may have high validity, for instance.
Such criteria change over time, and the chapter describes how contemporary computer-generated images value a ‘sensory’, affect-laden orientation that makes maximum use of all or most of the parameters that express visual validity.
