Is the main visual content in this web site composed of fractal images or pictures? Is there any difference between the two?

At first, I thought those questions were easy to answer. Actually, the two words have been used interchangeably, to mean the same thing, in this web site up-to-now. Yet, the truth is that "image" and "picture" don't have, necessarily, the same meaning. It depends on the standpoint we assume when giving an answer.

In a general (broad) sense, both of these words are synonyms, signifying: a (visual) "representation" of something outside of its own. In a more specific sense, some differences show up. For instance, look at the definitions offered by the Merriam Webster Dictionary (http://www.m-w.com):

• Main Entry: im·age
  Pronunciation: 'i-mij
  Function: noun
  Etymology: Middle English, from Old French, short for imagene, from Latin imagin-, imago; perhaps akin to Latin imitari to imitate
  Date: 13th century
  1 : a reproduction or imitation of the form of a person or thing; especially : an imitation in solid form : STATUE
  2 a : the optical counterpart of an object produced by an optical device (as a lens or mirror) or an electronic device b : a likeness of an object produced on a photographic material
  3 a : exact likeness : SEMBLANCE <God created man in his own image -- Gen 1:27 (Revised Standard Version)> b : a person strikingly like another person <she is the image of her mother>
  4 a : a tangible or visible representation : INCARNATION <the image of filial devotion> b archaic : an illusory form : APPARITION
  5 a (1) : a mental picture of something not actually present : IMPRESSION (2) : a mental conception held in common by members of a group and symbolic of a basic attitude and orientation <a disorderly courtroom can seriously tarnish a community's image of justice -- Herbert Brownell> b : IDEA, CONCEPT
  6 : a vivid or graphic representation or description
  7 : FIGURE OF SPEECH
  8 : a popular conception (as of a person, institution, or nation) projected especially through the mass media <promoting a corporate image of brotherly love and concern -- R. C. Buck>
  9 : a set of values given by a mathematical function (as a homomorphism) that corresponds to a particular subset of the domain
  
  
• Main Entry: pic·ture
  Pronunciation: 'pik-ch&r
  Function: noun
  Etymology: Middle English, from Latin pictura, from pictus, past participle of pingere to paint
  Date: 15th century
  1 : a design or representation made by various means (as painting, drawing, or photography)
  2 a : a description so vivid or graphic as to suggest a mental image or give an accurate idea of something <the book gives a detailed picture of what is happening> b : a mental image
  3 : IMAGE, COPY <the picture of his father> <the very picture of health>
  4 a : a transitory visible image or reproduction b : MOTION PICTURE c plural : MOVIES
  5 : TABLEAU 1, 2 <stage pictures>
  6 : SITUATION <took a hard look at his financial picture>

We don't need to carefully examine each definition to get to the point we want to assume (after all, that's what it is). Both entries include notions that apply to the graphical works visitors see in this web site (as well as in many others, fractal-related or not), but the latter one is more akin to our purpose. Why?

An "image" is a reproduction or imitation of something, a copy as similar or accurate as posible to the original entity. When we look at ourselves in the mirror, we see an image of ourselves (what a surprise!). A "picture", on the other hand, is also a reproduction of something, but it doesn't require to be an imitation. More specifically, that representation could be elaborated, highly decorated, or even altered or modified in many ways. As if when we look at ourselves in a mirror, instead of getting back an image of how we look like at that exact moment, we magically see ourselves from the inside out (muscles and skeleton in dripping blood), wearing another garment (no matter what age or epoch it is), or standing in a fantastic environment (with gnomes or aliens, it's up to you). But maybe that idea is still too "imaginative." There is a simple element in the second definition that is the point we really want to emphasize (the main idea behind the beclouded example above): a paint. The nearest we want to get (or the farthest we want to go—it depends on your point of view) in this web site is to claim that what you are viewing are but fractal pictures, and not absolute representations of pure fractals, which certainly is not our aim.

So, when viewing this web site's content, don't assume what you're seeing are real fractals, or as we have been discussing, fractal IMAGES. That should be the objective of a web site interested in fractals as mathematical entities (and there are many out there). In FRACTOVIA, on the other hand, assumptions should end: what you're actually viewing is a collection of fractal PICTURES, possibly highly altered or too far away from their mathematical reality (or even closer than expected—who knows). We intend no more.