The power of images

Along my travels to conferences as a budding PhD student I was constantly asked why was I studying visual images- what could it possibly add to the existing body of literature on depictions of finance?

I stumbled across a theme which was both compelling yet emotional rather than concrete- the power of an image. How could one measure the power or influence of an image?

MPs in the late nineteenth century did allude to the notoriety that a caricature of themselves could attach to themselves- it was almost a badge of honour, and corresponding disappointment if an MP did not feature in say Vanity Fair, the Victorian society periodical.

The power of an image can perhaps be measured by say the repetitive nature of the image (who doesn't remember the 'Kitchener needs you' poster from WW1).

In the case of the nineteenth century Punch used sophisticated marketing techniques to sell more copies. Individual issues were packaged and repackaged to generate more revenue and more readers. The repackaging also took the form of annual Almanacs or selections of the most memorable events/images chosen by Punch editors at Queen Victoria's Diamond and Golden Jubilees.

But this repetition also occurred in the actual images themselves. Cartoonists frequently copied icons/symbols from previous years to convey their messages. The trite expression 'un dessin vaut mieux que mille mots' conjures up memories.

In the case of financial images, the nineteenth century reveals repeated icons associated with the recurring financial disasters of the period. Icons depicting emotional or irrational responses to disastrous financial events. The most evocative is (because some of these icons are still used today) the bubble, but there were other examples such as crowds anxiously gathering outside a bank's headquarters. This visual conjuring up of what a contemporary writer of the time, Mackay, called the 'herd' mentality has echoes in the famous twentieth century economist, Keynes, use of the term 'animal spirits'. The trend towards trying to understand the emotional characteristics of people caught up in financial disasters is exemplified currently in the field of 'behavioural economics' and the work of Akerlof, Shiller, Kahneman and others.

Future blogs will explore the use of financial icons and visual metaphors to convey complex reactions to financial crises. Below is a typical example of a colourful image depicting the Railway Mania, a period of speculation mania occurring between 1845 and 1847.

Terrified investor