Seeing is believing: the importance of referencing photos in your e-book

We’ve all heard or used the cliché ‘I’ll believe it when I see it’. This is because of all the five senses we use, sight plays the biggest role in how we make sense of the world around us. What we see, we tend to believe.

The interesting point about sight is the fact that no two people see and read a given image in the same way. For example, two people might see a red London bus but each of the individuals concerned will describe it differently. The reason for this apparent anomaly has a lot to do with the way our cognitive abilities have been shaped by our immediate environment and the surroundings in which we were brought up in.

If I saw a red London bus, I would quickly recognize it as an iconic symbol of the city in which I’ve lived and worked. I would therefore describe the image of a red London bus in those terms. However, if a native of Papua New Guinea saw the same image, they might describe it in quite a different way. They might describe what they saw as: ‘a noisy beast that carries people inside its belly’. This is because their description is dictated by the language of the forest and not by that of an urban setting.

So what does all this have to do with the power of imagery and your e-book? Well, a lot when it comes to using photos and images as part of your e-book’s content.

Imagine for a moment, if you will, you are browsing an e-book about the City of London. The author of the e-book has used un-referenced photos and images taken from the Royal Botanical Gardens, Kew in Wakehurst to highlight the parks and walk ways of London city centre. But, because there is no reference the Royal Botanical Gardens, you, as the browser of the e-book, might be forgiven for thinking that the City of London is a tropical paradise, especially if you had never been there.

Though the above example is a slight exaggeration, the point I’m trying to make here is this: Using un-referenced photos or images in your e-book can leave your readers with the wrong impression. You need to give your readers some direction when it comes to photos and images so that they can interpret them in a way that aligns with how they perceive the world. Don’t assume that all your readers will follow the same cognitive process when it comes to understanding what they see and read, because they won’t.

Any images you use in your e-book must be clearly referenced and underpinned by text so that your readers do not misinterpret what you are trying to tell them.

Remember, although a picture may convey a thousand words, those words still need to make sense in order to have any value.