For great ideas on interpreting images that you find, please see this History Matters page, and this page from Library of Congress.
Here are a few questions that can help:
>Who created the image?
>Why was the image made?
>How was it created? Paint, sculpture, drawing, computer design?
>Why are certain characters, settings, lines, shapes, perspectives, and colors used? What do these elements communicate to the viewer?
>Does the image portray Southern culture accurately? Is it more myth? Perhaps some of both?
>What was happening in history when the image was made?
>What do the pictures communicate about issues of gender, race, and class?
You will probably have to consult criticism--articles and books about the image--to help you answer all of these questions.