Understanding Media Communication: On the Significance of Iconic Thinking for a Praxeological Model of Communication

Abstract

This article outlines the state of the art in picture analysis as it has been developed in the trajectory of reconstructive methodology. Analyzing pictures in their own right—that is, by adhering to the particular affordances of the medium “picture”—has strong implications for qualitative research some of which are discussed in this article. With regard to content, this discussion revolves around questions pertaining to bodily self-presentation in mass and social media. On this basis, the article concludes with a praxeological model of communication that offers a guideline for social research which is clued-up as to its own media and, thus, takes into account that meaning in pictures is constructed differently than meaning in language.