Copyright 2000 Isabel Pedersen Barry draws heavily on Gestalt psychologists throughout her analysis of images, television, and film. She refers to Rudolph Arnheim as well as others. She often mentions the Gestalt Law of Pragnanz that states that psychological organization will always be as good as the prevailing conditions allow.
Perception always attempts simplicity, regularity, symmetry.
Eyesight is insight. She gives evidence of visual naivet and explains that we learn to see in the same fashion that we learn to do anything. One who has never seen a photograph may not be able to see it or understand what he is seeing. She studies blind people who gain sight late in life and are unable to cope with this sense because they did not gain visual intelligence. The perception was not developed.