Picture Blind

"There is a tribe in the Cameroon who have no pictorial art at all, and only make bands of geometric designs. When shown a photograph of a snake or an elephant it doesn´t mean anything to them, the images could equally well be of a cooking pots or missionaries. They are picture blind. Nigel Barley. The Innocent Anthropologist. Penguin (Harmondsworth 1986)

In comprehending pictorial representation much is acquired through familiarity with paintings, drawings and photographs, rather than being a trait which is inherited. Mind you, my two-year-old grandson instantly recognized himself in a photo, and his mother too. And he hasn´t been to art school or taken a course in visual communications.

Have you notice that although plenty of people confess they have 'no ear' for music you don´t come across many who admit they have 'no eye' for painting? Something to remember when looking at a picture we don't understand - and react angrily, feeling that we are being fooled. Perhaps rubbishing something because one doesn't understand it is remnant of survival instinct which threatens you. As that famous Irish rugby player Willy McBride maintained, 'It always pays to get your retaliation in first.' "

Alan Fletcher. The Art of looking sideways.