We can separate the real world from a depicted one. We are not really learning how to do it, but in the process of socialization we are learning how to understand and react to images. Some of them have become so integrated in our daily practice that we can hardly ignore them. For example pictograms or sings which are being used commonly in society. Warning sings, public places sings, restriction sings, instruction sings and statistical graphs have become so familiar to us, that we would recognize their purpose at any time. Probably because of their universality they have become so important to us. So, we can assume that the image has more potential to become a universal language than text. Of course originally they had different purposes and impacts, and it is quite ignorant of me to propose this, but let’s try to get rid of the former knowledge about the functions of the image and text and consider them here just as a possibility for people to communicate. But the example that I mentioned in the beginning presupposes that we have to learn how to read images around us. Today the problem of visual literacy becomes quite important due to over fluidity of visual information. Earlier in the history of human culture the situation was easier. People lived in smaller societies and their field of reference, due to its limitations, gave an opportunity to create conventions about beauty, value, quality and meaning. Today, the situation has changed: aesthetic values cannot be shared in the same way by big groups of people due to their differences. As a reaction to these processes a different system of valuation should take place. We should learn how to deal with the overload of the imaginary.
But what is visual literacy? It can be defined as the ability to construct a meaning from visual images. To make the meaning, a complex of actions should be applied. Social rules and institutes have become an important reference point to perceive the information. These points make us able to create a shared field of visual language and set a particular value for things and processes happening around. But setting the parameters by institutions is not enough to be able to read images. In my opinion more emphasis should be put to the idea of visual literacy. Understanding the implications of images makes the viewer more resistant to the manipulative uses of images today. I see the possibilities to better understand image and be able to read it and generate a meaning as critical reflection on how the things are today.