What is an image?
The etymology of the word image according to the decently credible Wikipedia states that “An image (from Latin: imago) is an artifact that depicts or records visual perception, for example a two-dimensional picture, that has a similar appearance to some subject—usually a physical object or a person, thus providing a depiction of it.”
An image, simply put, is an index of the real world presented through the subjective lens of its creator. This subjectivity is culminated through the experiences [childhood, time period, social issues, feelings, etc.] of the artist and his or her image is a mere reaction to it. The image can be shown in a concrete form such as a work of art or a mental picture.
For a concrete representation of an image, I am still unsure if it can only be two-dimensional or if image applies to three-dimensional objects as well. But then we have the issue of image and object. All concrete images are objects, but perhaps not all objects can be images.
I don’t know, defining image at first seems easy on the surface, but the deeper you get, the more complications arise. For example, take Magritte’s “This is Not a Pipe.” It is an image of a pipe, but it is not a pipe as an object. Furthermore there is an implication of words being presented as images stating that “this is not a pipe” because the phrase itself is not an image, nor are the words, but when they are presented as visual letters, it becomes an image. The levels of representation and indexes traverse several layers of “image,” but it is unclear when the phrase, spoken sentence, written sentence, image or actual pipe becomes or stops becoming an image.
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