Seeing is Believing is a workshop that looks at the special characteristics of visual images in communicating the Scriptures.
Visual images communicate in a different way than text. Whereas images communicate immediately, text takes time. Images hit the emotions hard and fast, but text is able to go deeper than visuals. We must know these specific characteristics of images in order to use them effectively.
The visual communicator in Christian publishing plays three roles:
- Theologian: The visual communicator must translate theological concepts from text to images.
- Sociologist: The visual communicator must be able to anticipate how the audience will understand images. This requires research.
- Creative Message Maker: The visual communicator must craft a creative message which communicates those theological concepts to the intended audience.
An excerpt:
When portraying Jesus, should we place him as closely as possible in 1st century Palestine? Does Jesus always need to look like a European with middle eastern robes? Or can we adapt him into other cultural settings, including giving him other racial characteristics? Can we have an African Jesus, a guru Jesus, a Rastafarian Jesus, even a Che Guevera revolutionary Jesus?