Picture This: How Pictures Work

When we look at a picture, we know perfectly well that its a picture and not the real thing, but we suspend disbelief. For a moment. the picture is "real." We associate pointed shapes with real, pointed objects. We associate red with real blood and fire. Specific elements such as points or color or size seem to call up the emotions we felt when we experienced actual sharp points or colors or noticeably large or small things. It is these "emotions attached to remembered experiences" that seem largely to determine our present responses.