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Visual Communication
Understanding Images in Media Culture

Second Edition
  • Giorgia Aiello - University of Milan, Italy, University of Bologna, Italy, University of Leeds, UK and University of Bologna, Italy, University of Leeds, UK
  • Katy Parry - University of Leeds, UK
February 2027 | 336 pages | SAGE Publications Ltd
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How do images shape identities, politics and commodities?

In today’s era of visual abundance, this book offers the tools to analyze the images that saturate our lives. With 18 richly contextualized case studies spanning global activism, political spectacle, lifestyle branding, and digital self-representation, it empowers readers to critically engage with visual media culture.

In this second edition, you’ll discover:

  • Six brand-new case studies, from the performance of masculinity by world politicians, to how identity is negotiated on TikTok;
  • A research methods toolkit covering visual semiotics, multimodal analysis, and mixed methods, with clear comparisons to guide your choice;
  • Global perspectives, exploring international climate activism, collective imaginations of Africa and Europe, and how wars are visualized;
  • Activity boxes which apply theory to practice.

Aimed at students and researchers of media, communication, and cultural studies, this book equips readers to navigate both the impact and implications of visual  images in the twenty-first century.

Key features

Need 1: Visual culture is proliferating online. Students need teaching tools that reflect this and give them the tools to analyze these images in their own media experience.

Meeting need: Reviewers commented on the inclusion across the book of examples and case studies from digital and social media as strength that sets this book apart.

 

Need 2: Learning from a variety of approaches common in media studies research.

Meeting need: Built for media studies and drawing on examples resonant with media students, each case study provides a 'toolkit' approach walking students through an analytic technique or method, and how it can be applied to a particular image or visual context.

NEW EDITION CHANGES:

Coverage of new platforms like TikTok, more on Instagram, with expanded coverage of content creators and influencers

Extended coverage of misinformation/disinformation

Expanded discussion of gender and race, with a particular focus on intersectionality

More robust positioning and comparing of case studies within the book's wider scope

Greater consistency of learning features

New, updated case studies from the performance of masculinity by Trump and Zelensky to Greenpeace's TikTok strategy

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