It may seem a further irony that because of the cameras perceived realism in its ability to replicate visual perception it was assumed that all peoples would naturally be able to understand photographs This gave rise to the question of whether photography constituted a universal language For example in 1933 this view had been expressed in a series of radio broadcasts by photographer August Sander Even the most isolated Bushman could understand a photograph of the heavens  whether it showed the sun and moon or the constellations However in the face of the rapid increase in global communications which characterised the latter part of the twentieth century we do at least need to ask to what extent the photographic image can penetrate through cultural differences in understanding Or is photography as bound by cultural conventions as any other form of communication such as language