PART 4 - PROJECT 1 - COURSEWORK
I had the chance to examine some copies of three American newspapers: the Washington Post, the New York Times and the Boston Globe.
I selected an image for each newspaper and kept the caption, in order to make an analysis of the relationship between the text and the image.
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| From Boston Globe, 15/7/2019 |
At first glance I didn't understand the relationship between the image and the text and I had the impression that literally there was no logical connection.
In this sense it could be said that the text did not, at least initially, guide me to the meaning of the image, and that it allowed me a personal interpretation.
But, in reality, in advertising the images have the function of "emotional reinforcement" to the message you want to send through the text, and therefore I could say that the text guides the interpretation of the image and the image supports the meaning of the text.
In this case advertising plays on the juxtaposition of the act of donating a car for charity and the happiness of a child who receives a puppy as a gift, as if to explicitly indicate that the act of giving will make someone happy.
The concept is further reinforced by the text "Make a Wish" and by the url "WheelsForWishes.org". Certainly the creator's intention was to push the reader to do charity to be "rewarded" by the candid smile of a little girl who holds in her arms an equally candid puppy, and, thus, feel good.
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| From Washington Post, 13/7/2019 |
In this image the caption has a purely descriptive function and informs the viewer just about the launch of the cryptocurrency.
The text therefore allows the free interpretation of the full meaning of the image, where, in the background, we see the combination of the facebook symbol and the "like" symbol.
After all, this is not an image used for advertising purposes, but an extract from an article on the new cryptocurrency, and is therefore an integral part of a journalistic piece of pure journalistic function. Nevertheless, the image (probably stock) is definitely connoted.
The text therefore allows the free interpretation of the full meaning of the image, where, in the background, we see the combination of the facebook symbol and the "like" symbol.
It depends on the viewer to decide whether the "like" symbol gives a positive connotation to the currency in the foreground, although we can note that the "like" position is, strategically, aligned with the currency, almost to establish a connection and bring out in the viewer's mind the phrase "Most of the people like this cryptocurrency".
In my opinion the journalist had the only intention to accompany its text with a logically connected image, while the photographer had the goal to send a positive, reassuring message of stability.
The photographer staked everything on the image and the mutual connection between the foreground and background, where in the foreground one sees real cash and in the background a great and reassuring company, which is accompanied by the "likes", therefore the approval of the people "...you are not alone...".
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| From New York Times, 7/7/2019 |
In this image, which is neither an outfit for the journalistic piece nor an advertisement, the creator (Iacocca's family) uses the text to guide the interpretation of the image.
Once you read the text, you understand that there are four combinations: starting from the subject in the foreground (Iacocca) you get, in the background, to the Statue of Liberty, which stimulates you to think of Ellis Island (historically the main place of arrival of immigrants) and this together as a symbol of freedom.
Then, in the background on the left, we pass to the sea, and on the right, to a ship, to recall the Italian emigration to the United States.
At the bottom on the right we can see a policeman, who, approached with a smiling Iacocca, recalls the idea of the quiet reception of the "migrant" Iacocca.
The intention of the family (the creator) was precisely to guide the reader and let the text play a crucial part in determining the final meaning of the image, in order to send the message ".... once we were welcomed, and we returned the land that welcomed us with the social success and well-being created by our son .... ".
The intention of the family (the creator) was precisely to guide the reader and let the text play a crucial part in determining the final meaning of the image, in order to send the message ".... once we were welcomed, and we returned the land that welcomed us with the social success and well-being created by our son .... ".
STORY OF FEET, LEGS & SHOES
A pair of orphan shoes .....
.... find a foster mother.
A strange being of four feet and a hand ......
..... rests near an odd couple of right feet.
A cyclist's knee must be protected while resting and should be protected from the sun.....
... while the little girl must be protected from her legs...
... because legs want to jump and fly away, together with the pigeon.
Please allow me to introduce myself .....
At your house or mine?
From the same three American newspapers of the exercise 4.2, the Washington Post, the New York Times and the Boston Globe, I selected some other images, without their caption.
- Hydro-spinning around the city is the new fitness craze
- The mayor decided to flood the streets in order to slow down the cyclists and increase security
- Telekinesis is my secret weapon
- I feel I am missing something...
- Come on, there is some more work to do
- The crowd assists incredulously at the instant replay of the winning no-look launch of the helmet by the Red Sox player Matthew Brown
- Houston, we've had a problem here
- AC DC is my favorite band
- In Kidshire county, children, since the very young age, are employed in call centers in order to inspire confidence in potential customers
- A participant in university entrance tests looks at the next question in perplexity
- Filipino fans cheer along the streets of Manila after the elimination of the Chinese team in the quarter-final of the world Championships, hand ball.
- March of solidarity with the demonstrators in Hong Kong along the streets of Manila.
- A young couple is about to take a dive back into the fountain after reading a proclamation against President Trump
- And the best offer for this beautiful fountain is.....
- The week of street poets in Flint: Mitchell Russell Lowell recites the verses of the poem "The Fountain" written by his ancestor James in the early nineteenth century
I had a lot of fun imagining new texts combined with the images I selected from American newspapers.
I projected this amusement into the irony of some texts, but I believe that, despite the joke and / or the attempt to distort the meaning of the images through words, the exercise was successful in creating one or more credible combinations.
I believe that the power of these combinations derives on one hand from the intrinsic limitations of the photo, which is a window on the reality of "here and now", while the texts can be created at any time and can embrace one or more periods of time, the combination of which can determine multiple realities.
The text thus becomes no longer a reinforcement or a support to the interpretation of the image, but becomes itself the key to the message, in turn supported by the image.
The image thus becomes the instrument of the text, and not vice versa.
Of course the text can have a powerful manipulative function, much more than an image that is taken with the same intent.
It is said that "an image is worth a thousand words", but a few words can create a thousand meanings.