Applications

The four-eyes model can be applied to the targeted discussion and analysis of the effect of photographs on the viewer. On the other hand, the model is less suitable for evaluating and judging the photographic quality of an image.

General observations can be formulated regarding the effect of photographs:

• All four levels (form, narrative, feeling and I) are involved to different degrees in images, appealing to both halves of the brain. It is only the effective interplay between these four levels and two halves that create special and very powerful images that have an effect on viewers and draw attention.
• The combination of different eyes enhances the effect of images, appealing to the viewer more comprehensively and having a more enticing and powerful effect.
• The four-eyes model is very suitable for structured and targeted pictorial analysis, but not for the qualitative analysis of photographs.
• The ‘form’ eye and the ‘feeling’ eye on one side and the ‘narrative’ I and the ‘I’ eye on the other complement each other mutually. Images with a powerful effect appeal in a targeted manner to both sides of an axis.

The discussion of the model will show to what extent these statements are of a universally valid nature. The four-eyes model is used in photography instruction in schools and when discussing images in photo clubs.