Photographic Junk Food? The Rhetorical Failure of Visual Argument in Hungry Planet

• In Event: Novel Forms of Visual Communication

Abstract

This essay argues that photographs are a potent form of argumentation. Birdsell and Groarke’s theory of visual argumentation is applied to the book Hungry Planet by photojournalists Peter Menzel and Faith D’Aluisio. This analysis argues that the book fails as a visual argument because it does not establish a consistent interpretation among its audience members and because it allows the audience to draw private conclusions rather than thinking about more important structural and political issues.

Author

• Leland Spencer, Univ of Cincinnati