Visual culture, like any other aspect of culture, is in the hands of people at large. Anyone can produce a visual artifact that will attract the attention of others and enter the visual culture. Furthermore, experiencing visual culture in one’s life will impart at least some intuitive understanding of the subject, themes, and elements of the visual language without deliberate effort on one’s part. Thus, any result of visual production, whether it is created professionally or otherwise, can have value and be worthy of scholarly inquiry (Smith, 2008). Considering the number of visual works produced by amateurs, such works are relevant and valid.
While visual culture incorporates both professional and non-professional, artistic and non-artistic images, these categories remain distinct. However, particular distinctions can be challenging to identify or quantify (Mitchell, 2002). Some scholars, such as Mitchell (2002) argue that non-professional, “vernacular” imagery comprises the majority of visual culture. They point to the importance of this vernacular, or amateur, visual expression, in political and cultural discourse (Mitchell, 2002; Moreno-Almerida, 2020). Most importantly, anyone, no matter how familiar he or she is with any theoretical underpinnings of visual culture, aesthetics, or art, can gain valuable insight. In turn, this insight can allow him or her to create visual works that will have a significant effect on the overall corpus of visual culture.
Ultimately, participation in the creation of visual artifacts is currently available to everyone. While professional knowledge and insight can help understand the reasons for an artifact’s effect on the culture at large, and, therefore, inform the design of visual production that achieves particular goals, it is not strictly necessary. Practically, a professional creator’s insight has a higher likelihood of producing an effective object, increasing the efficiency of his or her work. However, there is no guarantee that an amateur will be able to create such an object.
References
Mitchell, W. J. T. (2002). Showing seeing: A critique of visual culture. Journal of Visual Culture, 1(2), 165-181.
Moreno-Almeida, C. (2020). Memes as snapshots of particpation: The role of digital amateur activists in authoritarian regimes. New Media and Society. Web.
Smith, M. (2008). Visual Culture Studies: Interviews with Key Thinkers. London: Sage.