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We have a great ability to recognize complex, everyday visual scenes, even if we are presented with them for only a very short amount of time. This recognition ability concerns the general meaning of the scene and the emotional content conveyed. This review will first analyze previous research on the processing of both semantic and emotional information in the perception of a scene. It aims to better understand how this information is selected and represented, and how it influences visual exploration and thus the speed at which the scene is processed. It will then examine the interplay between these two kinds of information during processing. This review highlights the importance of the semantic and emotional links between the different components of a scene and the dynamic, integrative nature of visual perception. It also suggests several avenues for future research.