Week 4: Into The Image World
The relationship between the image and the viewer is one that divides opinion and sparks controversy, particularly in the medium of advertising. In this week we were presented with examples with played on stereotypes, surface meaning, and intent.
BARTHES infers that there are 3 messages inherent in the advertising image: the linguistic, the coded iconic, and the uncoded iconic. This is quite a complex analysis which I don’t pretend to fully understand, but all three elements. In his 1964 essay, The Rhetoric Of The Image he alludes to photography having a language (visual) of its own and for us to interpret the advert as simply that, nothing more.
We were asked to provide some examples of advertising where intent, meaning, and interpretation resonated with us either through context, visual substance, or acceptance/disapproval.
I have a hate/love relationship with this commercial medium, actually it’s mainly hate. As a consumer I don’t feel I need to be guided to a product, I am smart enough to seek it out. But what is worse is the patronising (and sometimes insulting) nature with which the corporates levy their pitch. The general premise is if we buy the product we become that lifestyle, and to be honest the vast majority of the population have little relatability to the models or actors in the Calvin Klein or Givenchy promotions. You see, I told you I hated advertising but let me be more objective and of course advertising through imagery is so much more than about smelling nice or looking good in your underwear.
"The image is penetrated through and through by the system of meaning" (Barthes, 1997)
One of the three images I chose to share, was in fact the one I found most offensive. When the UK government pitched this idea, it created a storm of retaliation and controversy. Unsurprisingly it was subsequently removed from circulation. Although there is no obvious offence to be taken in the image itself the message takes control and assumes a directive almost instructional approach, one could argue completely the opposite approach from likes of ‘The Colors of Benetton’ campaigns.
I personally was disgusted that such an assumption of career objectiveness and worth should be levied at a population amidst a Pandemic, by a government whose own ability was under scrutiny. The backlash was astonishing and this was a clear example of where advertising has clearly generated a response totally contrary to the original aim.
Figure 1: Kris (2019)
Photographer Alex Krys was devastated when they saw how their image had been used.
“I was shocked,” Alex says in a video posted to YouTube October 14, explaining that she didn’t know about the use of the image – which was uploaded to a stock image site – prior to the controversy it caused:
“I woke up Monday morning to a bunch of emails and texts, and I really felt devastated.”
“I immediately thought about Desire’e and how her face was just plastered all over social media and the internet,” she adds, referring to the actual subject of her photograph, Desire’e Kelley: “a young, talented, and beautiful aspiring dancer from Atlanta.” Talking about the widespread memes and news coverage that were to follow, she says: “She had no clue. All of that really hurt me.”
“Some people questioned if I knew, and if I approved the use of my work. If I had known this was going to be used in the way it was, I would never have agreed to it. I feel like artists should stand together and support each other. Our hard work deserves to be recognised, and we should not be encouraged to stop doing what we love.”
I think this highlights an issue around the use of stock footage being used for advertising, and the lack of control a photographer has once that image is shared with the world.
In my own practice and the project I am currently working on for this module, I have found my work is actually being used by a third party as a form of advertising at the moment. I am currently documenting the restoration of Paignton Picture House as part of my ‘Abandonment, Decay & Loss’ project. This is a long term commitment and the early images can be seen in my WIP. Some of these images are already being used by the charity to advertise the ongoing work in order to attract further public interest. They are now being shared weekly on Social Media and their website.
My intent hasn’t been changed yet, as I am quite focused on the project in hand. Of the three themes I am looking at though I have started experimenting with LOSS which may or may not make it into my final portfolio of work. For this theme I have taking photographs of the possessions of my late mother, but in a forensic style. Mum was OCD and in her last few years of life was heavily sensitive to everything being organised, categorised, and at hand. My images are intended to showcase those items the closest to her. The image below is actually my old phone and the answer machine still holds her last few messages to me. Communication for her was key and her connection to me crucial to her day to day survival. There are 8 examples in total and these will appear in my WIP Research webpage in due course
Figure 2: Tipping (2021)
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Figure 1: Alex Kris, (2019), Fatima, available on online at: https://www.dazeddigital.com/politics/article/50789/1/devastated-photographer-krys-alex-responds-to-uk-government-fatima-cyber-ad
Figure 2: Mark Tipping, (2021), Answer Machine & Phone