Skill 8 · ages 12-18
Reading images and maps
A painting, a photo or a map was also made by someone, for someone, with a purpose. You learn to ask what an image shows and what it leaves out.
DraftNot yet reviewed by a historian or history teacher.Why
Images seem simply to show reality, so we believe them quickly. But every maker chooses an angle, a moment and what falls inside the frame.
A map is not a photo of the Earth. It always simplifies, and what it chooses to show says something about who made it.
Understand it
With an image, ask the same questions as with a text: who made it, when, for whom and why? A painting ordered by a ruler shows him differently from a cartoon by his opponents.
With a map, also ask: what was it for? A map for sailors, for an army or for a school makes different choices each time. Every flat map of the round Earth distorts something: distances, shapes or areas.
The maps in Spoor are schematic: they show only what you need to find places. That is a choice too, and you may notice it.
For every image or map, ask: who made it, what for, what is on it, and what falls outside the frame?
See it on a source
In our own words: on this map a straight line is a fixed compass bearing. As a result, areas far from the equator are drawn much bigger than they are.
Who did Mercator make this map for?Show
For sailors, who wanted to plot a fixed course.
What does the map distort?Show
The areas: Greenland and Europe look bigger, areas near the equator smaller than they are.
What does the map say about what Europeans knew in 1569?Show
Coasts sailors knew are fairly accurate; areas Europeans had not yet reached are uncertain or filled in with guesses.
Pitfalls
Not like this: A photo always shows the whole truth.
Like this: A photo shows a chosen moment and a chosen angle. Ask what happened just outside the frame.
Not like this: A map is wrong if it distorts.
Like this: Every map distorts. The question is whether it suits its purpose.
Do it
Choose a level. Five right in a row and you can do this.
With Kaft PlusWant every topic? Open them with Kaft Plus
Make a worksheet of itAt the table
Draw a map of your neighbourhood together for a visitor. What do you leave out, and why?