Photo-Dialogue
Tuesday 06 Sep 2011 at 13:40 Posted by Steve Marshall Follow me on Twitter
Steve Marshall : Self-portrait
Vision. It's a visual thing.
When I first started reseaching imagery for our 'photo-dialogue' process I used to claim that we lived in a visual world; Flickr had 3 billion images and YouTube received 5 billion views per month. Today those numbers are beginning to look trivial. YouTube exceeds 10 billion views per month in the U.S. alone. Flickr, now one of many photo hosting sites passed 5 billion in 2010 and users continue to upload over a billion images per year.
We are becoming increasingly visually literate as our world is filled with visual media. TV, internet, streaming video and 'play-it-later' technologies all provide compelling messages (and lots of 'noise') which dominate our communication. Against such a dynamic, constantly changing background, the static text of a corporate ‘vision statement' languishing in a filing cabinet while people go uninterrupted about their daily work becomes a stark reality
Language has long been a poor tool for encompassing the fast-moving complexity and subtlety of modern organisations. Procedures are out of date before they have been published and written descriptions cannot offer sufficient clarity.
Shifting from language to visual has clear advantages; Gartner Group analyst Lou Latham says 'Organisations who can add visual interaction to their communication have better comprehension, a higher level of trust, and more accountability among their employees'. Many leaders now know that ‘vision’ requires more than a tired verbal mantra. Visual literacy begins with developing a personal vision and then enables others to build and share their own visions. So, what are the benefits of bringing visual 'technologies' to the 'vision' conversation?
- Images cut through linguistic barriers and jargon
- Images can be easily disseminated and reproduced
- Interaction and creativity increase as typically 'quiet' participants find their voice
- Imagery is fun and offers deep insight
- Images can leave a long and lasting impression
- Images support the potential to easily develop significant dialogue and meaningful organisational change
The simple notion that a picture tells a thousand words opens up new vistas as we address the increasing complexity of modern organisations - especially when we begin to engage people in envisioning their future.
It's time to illuminate creative, visual, conversations.
Steve Marshall is a founding partner and director of meus. His cutting edge work combines photography, art, and enquiry as a spur for dialogue, innovation and change.
Visualization, art, photo-dialogue, vision 