Assignment Two: What Images Mean

Activity 2A: Roland Barthes: The Rhetoric Of The Image

To begin this particular assignment we were asked to read an extract from the book 'The Rhetoric of the Image' by Roland Barthes.

The author, Roland Barthes (1915-1980) was a French social and literacy critic who focused on the topic of semiotics- (the study of how meaning is socially produced through various languages or codes, such as colour, gesture, photography and fashion, as well as words.)  He published a total of seventeen books in his lifetime.

The chapter we were asked to look at, looked in depth at the relationship between images and text, therefore enabling us to continue the rest of the assignment with adequate knowledge on the topic. 

Barthes states: all images are polysemous; they imply underlying signifiers, a 'floating chain' of signifieds, the reader is able to choose some and ignore others.''

In advertising, the signification of the image is undoubtedly intentional.  Within the chapter, Barthes uses the example of a 'Panzani' advertisement to illustrate this.  

In the essay, Barthes subjects the image above to a semiotic analysis.

Within this advertisement, Barthes distinguishes between three forms of messages:

One: The Linguistic Message.

Texts/Branded logos that are automatically linked to a product or company.

This can be done in one of two ways:

Anchorage -  Wording that ties words to an image.  It involves the use of captions, which help to prevent polysemy and ambiguity.  Barthes introduced this concept as a means of serving to 'anchor' the preferred readings of an image/to fix the floating chain of signifieds.  The use of writing or commentary can help to diffuse this problem.  

Relay - Describes text/image relationship which are 'complementary'.  The image is constructed according to text.  An example - comic strips.

Two: The non-coded Iconic Message

This is the literal denotation of an image - stating exactly what you see within an image.

All that is needed is the knowledge bound up with our perception.  It is anthropological knowledge.

Denotation is an example of the first level of analysis, i.e. what the audience can visually see on the page.

Three: The Coded Iconic Message

Denotation is usually coupled with a 'connotation' - which is the second level of analysis, being what the denotation represents.

This is how an image means to someone on a more personal level.


The implications Polysemy has on Interior Design.


Every design has a reason behind it, whether it is exterior, interior or natural design.  I guess successful design is when a client interprets what you intend them to from your design.  They decode, what you (the designer) encode.


To prevent and to control polysemy within interior design project presentations, we accompany our work with:

• voice
• drawings
• images
• texts

This allows the client/audience to have a greater and more concise interpretation of the information presented.                                                                                                                    

Activity 2B: Select Random Images

As part of our experiment, we were asked to get into groups, and pick three random images, with NO text on them.

We went on www.sxc.hu and selected the “randomizer” as a means of gathering three random images.

The 3 images:

IMAGE 1

IMAGE 2

IMAGE 3

Activity 2C: Talk To People


As a group, we went out into the public and asked a random selection of people to put the 3 images in an order, and to provide us with a short narrative using the images.


After exposing a number of people to the three random images I realised that each person, depending on gender, age and social background, denoted the three random images in different ways.
A sample of 4 of the stories obtained:
Lisa, 24, H.R. advisor 

Picture order - 3 2 1

''The successful ballet dancers toured abroad in the spotlight.''

Ryan, 21, Student

Picture order - 1 2 3

''A Wealthy business man uses his private jet in order to escape reality and enter a world of utopia by flying off with his wife to a remote island, to watch a ballet.''  

Julia, 24, Office Worker

Picture order - 1 3 2

''Grandparents flew to see their grand-daughter's ballet performance, where she would be in the spotlight''

Lynda, 50, French Teacher

Picture order - 2 1 3 

''Light turns on in a mother's head as she realises the need to be present at her daughters ballet performance.  She takes a plane to make her journey on time to please her daughter.''

As you can see from the results above, when asked to put the 3 images in order, the order varied every time.


I found that people of similar ages, and of the same gender, would put the three images in the same order.


It is important to realise that the images are polysemic, and therefore they are going to be interpreted differently.


I found that the images were similarly denoted, however it was the connotations that contained evident deliberation i.e. in 'the storyline/the narrative'.


People see different things within images, and therefore they interpret them on a personal, or social level.




Activity 2D: The Fourth Image


The next part of our assignment asked us to focus on/pick a 'target story' as a means of getting everyone to come up with the same story.


We picked Julia's story with the image sequence of 1 3 2:

''Grandparents flew to see their grand-daughter's ballet performance, where she would be in the spotlight''

The 4th image provided was as follows:

IMAGE 4

A sample of 2 stories obtained after providing a fourth image:

Craig, 18, Student

Picture order - 4 1 2 3

''The old couple take a plane journey for the weekend.  They arrive at a theatre and the lights come up, then they watch the ballet.''

Fiona, 19, Student

Picture order - 4 1 3 2

''The old couple fly to see their grand-daughter in a ballet, before they take a romantic stroll in the park.''

As you can see, adding one more picture still created polysemy.

Activity 2E: Adding Text

To reduce the degree of polysemy, we decided to add one word to each of the original three images.

IMAGE 1

IMAGE 2

IMAGE 3

Our intention was to direct the audience into ordering the images 1 3 2.

We tried to connect the picture of the lights (IMAGE 2) after the ballet (IMAGE 3) to suggest that the ballet dancers were dancing ''in the spotlight''.

I never knew that adding one word to an image could so easily influence a person.

A sample of 3 stories obtained after adding a word to each of the 3 original images:

Colin, 19, Student

Picture order - 1 3 2

''Grand-daughter takes a journey to perform so as to impress her grandmother in the spotlight''

Nicole, 20, Beautician

Picture order - 2 1 3

''A couple are in the spotlight before they take a journey to see their grand-daughter perform in the ballet.  Unfortunately the couple die in a plane crash, and the grand-daughter is left dancing (unknown to what has happened.)'' 

Shona, 22, Acountant

Picture order - 2 3 1

''The spotlight rises up as ballerinas begin to dance.  The dance reminds the girl of her grand-mother...''

These results proved to provide similar stories, but the images were not ordered in the same way by each individual. 

In order to influence the audience to say the story was ''Grandparents take a journey to see their grand-daughter in the ballet, in the spotlight'' -(image order 4 1 3 2) we needed to add a word to each of the 4 pictures:

IMAGE 1

IMAGE 2

IMAGE 3

IMAGE 4

A sample of 5 stories obtained after providing all four images, with one word on each image:

Alexandra, 20, Student

Picture order - 4 1 3 2

''Grandparents take a journey to see their grand-daughter in the spotlight''

Anne, 50s, Librarian

Picture order - 4 1 3 2 

''An elderly couple take a journey to see their grand-daughter in the spotlight''

Louise, 40s, Accountant

Picture order - 4 1 3 2

''The proud grandparents take a journey to go to the ballet in order to see their grand-daughter in the spotlight.''

Marcus, 25, Architect

Picture order - 4 1 3 2

''The old couple fly to London to see their grand-daughter under the spotlight.''

We needed to add a word to each of the four pictures to ensure each person questioned would come up with the same story and the same image order.

As the word 'home' was written onto IMAGE 4, this suggested that the grand-parents/elderly couple live far away/in another country from their grand-daughter and so would require 'a journey' (IMAGE 1) so that it could be possible for them to reach the ballet to see their grand-daughter dance (IMAGE 3).


As we wrote the word 'Grand-daughter' on the picture of the ballet (IMAGE 3), we thought this would successfully allow the audience to make the immediate connection between the picture of the elderly couple on IMAGE 4 and the word 'grand-daughter' on IMAGE 3.


It is through the aid of the arbitrary signifier's -(the verbal language, either spoken or written) on each of the 4 images, that helped to tell the same story to each member of the audience.


The arbitrary signifier's evidently anchor the meaning of the image with the word written beside it.


CONCLUSION


After carrying out this experiment, my understanding of polysemy has improved. I also have a clearer understanding of how to prevent and reduce polysemy when using images.  Providing text evidently enhances the meaning of a picture.  This is called 'anchoring'.


The experiment proved a success as we successfully got the majority of people to interpret the same story after we manipulated and edited the four images.  As with every experiment, there are exceptions.  Every individual is different.  Age, gender, class, culture experience and literacy levels all play a large factor in how a person will connote an image.  Some people may not take the added words into consideration...  Some people are more analytical than others.  My interpretation of polysemic images has agreed with that of Barthes.  


Within my design discipline, I feel that without a clear understanding from the client, the work put into the design proposal is pointless.  It only takes a few words/perhaps even 1 word to reduce ambiguity so that the client is able to clearly understand the design proposition. 

Assignment 1: Are You What You Wear/Buy/Sit On/Sleep In/Talk To?

Introduction:


For the first assignment in semester two, we were asked to collect a profile of pictures of us growing up or alternatively, take pictures of our bedroom.

The purpose of this assignment was to give us the opportunity to apply some of the concepts from the book 'Snoop' by Sam Gosling to everyday situations.  By doing this, we should be able to develop a deeper understanding of the book's concepts and then apply them to our own practice or future observations. To begin the assignment, we exchanged pictures with someone else within the Design Studies lecture programme so as to analytically denote what that person is like, just by looking at the pictures they provided. I was paired with a girl I had never met before from the Textile department who provided me with 15 pictures of her bedroom. Activity 1B: My analysis and deduction:  Just by scanning through the pictures of her room, it is completely obvious that the she is creative.  Her internal creativity is so evidently projected externally throughout her room.  Her choice of décor is incredibly interesting.  She has chosen to 'decorate'  her main wall above her desk with what seems like extracts from various sources - all of which accumulate and act as a testament of her personality.   The picture above shows exactly what her desk looks like.  Some of the 'collected source material' includes a postcard stating - ''Keep It Real''.  Perhaps this exists on the wall so as to remind her of her objective in life, or possibly her objective within her course!? Some of the pictures on the wall include- images of shoes, white roses (typical 'girly' things) and an envelope addressed to her.  I found the envelope addressed to her quite interesting.  Perhaps the letter brought good news at a particular time and therefore she has chosen to put it on her wall so as to remind herself about the news that letter brought to her on that day, or perhaps it was a letter from someone that she misses or is close to. The entire 'photo montage' is surrounded by fairy lights- perhaps suggesting that she wants to emphasise what is included within it.  This would be emphasised especially at night, when the fairy lights are switched on. Included within her montage are pictures featuring silhouettes.  I thought that the individual could possibly be a very private person, and see herself as a silhouette at times.  She doesn't seem to have any pictures of herself within her bedroom ,nor of herself with others. The extent of her creativeness is emphasised further due to the fact that she has a large DSLR camera, a regular camera AND a little disposable camera on her desk.  She is evidently interested in photography, but more so of photos of belongings/objects than of people.  This suggests that she deliberately chooses not to be influenced by people, but prefers to be influenced by physical objects, textiles, paintings etc.  Another feature on the wall includes a little black card with a picture of a religious cross on it. The immediate connotations of this are that this person is a religious individual, however because the individual seems open to various influences, I wasn't very confident to suggest that she would be in any way religious. This particular image suggests uniqueness.  The type of suitcase on top of the wardrobe looks vintage and definitely not something that would be bought in a regular suitcase shop.  The chair placed in her room appears rather vintage as well.  Perhaps it was given to the individual and now has some sentimental value to it.  This individual is one that would own different items to the usual teenage girl - a good quality to have if you ask me! The black and white images on the side of the wardrobe appear very 'out there' and 'different' to me.  The individual most definitely has an interest in fashion. I feel that the individuals interest in textiles, include textiles within the fashion industry.  I can't help but think that she has a more concentrated interest in designing fabrics/textiles for clothes, rather than for other uses. Perhaps she wants to explore her course more?  Or perhaps she is trying to incorporate the two together to enable her to discover her own unique style.   By looking at the duvet cover and lampshade in the picture above, it is entirely obvious that this individual has taste.  I also feel it obvious that she is a textile student as there are a variety of cushions on the bed, and there is a blanket as well as the duvet. Her love for textiles is also evident in her choice of clothes.  I feel that she dresses very artistically.  I also think that her choice to use reusable grocery bags (shown in the picture below) suggest that she cares about the environment. I think that this individual deliberately chooses not to tidy her room, not to  be disgusting -but as a method of creativity and originality.   Activity 1C: Note-making and discussion: I made it my priority to meet up with my partner after completing activity 1B.  I felt that it would be important and worth my while to verbally discuss our findings with one another. My partners reaction to my analysis of her: I was accurate in most of the things I had to say about my partner.  I was able to understand that she was a creative person, who enjoyed collecting 'bits and pieces' and was open to many ideas. When I suggested to her that there was a reason behind her wall montage being of pictures of objects/pieces, rather than of people-she immediately agreed.  I suggested that perhaps she was more reliant on objects more so than people, and so would consciously choose to decorate her room in a way that would seem most natural to her. The pictures on her wall montage interpret a meaning to her personally, and so won't be denoted by another individual in the same way.  -this can be applied to the 'Johari Window theory' because the meaning of her photo montage is 'known to her' however, 'unknown to others'.  This suggests that she is quite a closed/private person. My partner realised that she unconsciously stuck up a postcard saying, ''Keep It Real'' as part of her wall montage.  She explained that she stuck it up in the first place because it suited the wall, but in fact when I questioned if there was a reason behind it being there, she admitted to how she 'keeps it real' in her individual life.  She described it as the 'motto of her life'.  This unconscious decision to stick it up on her wall is a 'blind spot' that she has in herself. -at the time, this was unknown to herself, however it was known to me. (hidden part of the Johari Window theory) Her love for textiles is evident within her room -this was obvious to both her and I.  She is quite a unique individual- and I like that. I feel that my partner is quite a sentimental person when it comes to objects.  They remind her of good times in her life, which is way she chooses to display them in her room. My thoughts on my partners analysis of me: I was initially rather worried about my partners interpretation of the pictures I had given her.  When she read out what she thought, I was really surprised at how much my pictures could paint a picture of me as a person. It's as if my pictures painted a story of my life, from when I was born, up until now. My partner was able to realise that I am a very family oriented person, and that I am very close to my mother. I never realised that pictures could tell so much about a person. My partner could also tell that I was from Ireland.  I guess that is because I had given her a picture of me with a shamrock painted onto the side of my face - a bit of a give away really! I don't think my partner denoted anything majorly incorrect about me/or my personality.  She stated that she thought I was brought up in a middle/upper class family because of my house décor, the toys I played with as a child and the clothes me and my family wore.  I found this particularly interesting! There were a few things she mentioned that I expected myself to feel uncomfortable about, but I didn't.  This in itself surprised me the most.  I was also surprised at how accurate her connotations were. Activity 1E - Ethical Consideration to design: After completing this activity, I have come to realise a lot about research and analysis.  When researching ANYTHING, it is majorly important that you distinguish between whether that piece of information can be discovered publicly, or whether it would only be discovered privately.   I guess respect plays a large factor in research.  It is important to realise that there is potential to intrude within a persons private life.