Posted by Judy Weiser, Administrator The timing of your message pleases me greatly because Gerry has just emailed me that he's sending me a copy of his newest book... I think from reading your message that perhaps you think we, in this field, are not already aware of him and his work and publications, and yet if you are familiar with these yourself, you will know that he has often quoted and/or referenced my writing in his own -- especially my 1993 book on PhotoTherapy techniques, as well as my 1988 Chapter about cross-cultural applications of these -- so I'm glad his message is getting through, even a couple decades later! His concepts relate very very closely to the basic theory underpinning both PhotoTherapy AND Therapeutic Photography practices and so I will share just one of these now: "Images can become very effective objects through which the process of surfacing hidden or unconscious thoughts is enacted. "What a person notices [in a picture] will always mirror the inner map that she or he is unconsciously using to organize and understand what the senses are perceiving" [quoting Weiser, 1988 and also 1993, in Zaltman and Coulter's 1994 article "Using the ZMET to Understand Brand Images" there are numerous other quotes I could show you but I think the above will suffice in informing you that I, and my students, are not unaware of Gerry Zaltman's ground-breaking work -- it relates directly to our work on similar meaning-making-through-photographic-imagery processes... as he says, "The first premise is that most human communication is nonverbal" [I will put another excerpt at the end of this message so that students who come across this later, will see that text also...] In fact I referenced him recently when I was hired by a major British Photo-Portrait Company to Consult re: their desire to attract more customers via their specialized way of marketing... i.e., our fields greatly overlap... and yes a lot of us already know this. I want to explain that I'm saying this now, because of what I think is an assumption you have made that we were all previously unaware of his work/publications until your message "informed" us... I base this on the "this guy's been doing this for years" intro to your posting -- and please, I'll be the first to admit that determining emotional intention from the reading of digital typing, is usually not a good way to be sure of the "tone" of the message -- so if I have mis-read your reason for stating it that way, I sincerely apologize in advance!! It's just that we who work in this field, usually DO know the foundations and history of our literature -- and that of others, whose work connects with our own.. and in some cases, ours actually has informed theirs, rather than the other way around... However, I just now realized that I did not list his publication on the "Recommended Readings" page of my website and this I will correct soon -- thanks for giving me the opportunity to notice this! (and maybe that's where you got the assumption that we did not yet know of him...) I have invited Gerry Zaltman to read your message (and my reply) -- hopefully he will now post a response of his own here!! regards, and read the other quotations below if you wish... Judy Weiser more excerpts from Zaltman, quoting/referencing Weiser; contact me for full citation details "Many metaphors are mental images and, as discussed, the majority of these images are visual (Arnheim, 1969; Kosslyn et al., 1990). One means by which individuals can communicate their visual metaphors is via pictures, for example, photographs, pictures in magazines, drawings, or artwork. Pictures typically represent basic concepts and therefore are useful tools for understanding consumers, thoughts, feelings, and behaviors. Pictures, then, can serve as entry points for exploring other consumer concepts and represent a natural and efficient way for consumers to convey higher order constructs (Weiser, 1988; Ball and Smith, 1992). Some clinical psychologists use a client's photographs as a central part of the therapeutic counseling process (Entin, 1981; Krauss and Fryrear, 1983; Weiser, 1988)" -- and -- "Deep Structures of Thought Can Be Accessed. All consumers have relevant conscious thoughts that they need special help in articulating. Additionally, all consumers have relevant hidden thoughts: ideas they are not aware of possessing but are willing to share once discovered. A sixth premise is that these hidden or deep structures can be accessed. A variety of techniques such as those used in art therapy, and especially phototherapy, can be very effective in surfacing such thoughts (Weiser, 1993; Ziller, 1990). What a person notices [in a picture] will always mirror the inner map that she or he is unconsciously using to organize and understand what the senses are perceiving (Weiser, 1993).
on 5/18/2007, 3:48 pm, in reply to "Re: magazine photo collage therapy with Late stage Alzheimer's"
154.5.110.39
Thank you for calling people's attention to the work of Gerald Zaltman (and his "Zaltman Metaphor Elicitation Technique").