Presentation Transcript
Cultural Studies 1: Cultural Studies 1 Lecture 6
Barthes : Decoding the image
The photographic image: The photographic image The photograph is simulacrum of reality
It is a denotation in reduction, a tiny analogue of the real
We do not typically look for coding or encoding in examining a photograph
It appears as a message without a code ‘The camera doesn’t lie’
Barthes argues that this is not the case that images, like signs, both connote and denote
The ‘documentary’ photograph: The ‘documentary’ photograph A message which totally ‘exhausts its mode of existence’
It pretends purely denotative, documentary objectivity
It is typically ‘read’ in the way it is intended as in some sense neutral
But it has been worked on, chosen, composed and subjected to professional or ideological norms
The photographic paradox: The photographic paradox Co-existence of 2 messages:
One without a code
The photograph as analogue of the real
One with a code
The photograph as an encoded statement with a connoted message, a second meaning
Connotation & Denotation: Connotation & Denotation TITLE:Â Â Buffalo, New York. The wedding of Cecelia Wrazen and Bronislaus Nowak, who work at Ross Heater, makers of condensers for the Navy. They are of Polish descent. He is temporarily deferred from the Army because of his essential work. They will live with her mother
Connotation Procedures: Connotation Procedures Trick effects
Pose
Objects
‘Photogenia’ (lighting, exposure, printing)
Aestheticism
Trick effects: Trick effects The disappearing Commissar
More tricks: More tricks
Pose: Pose
Objects: Objects The study' researchers - the University of Melbourne's Professor Lyn Yates and Deakin University' Dr Julie McLeod. Photo: Gary Medicott
Photogenia: Photogenia
Aestheticisation Wounded Soldiers at Khe San (Larry Burrows, 1970?) : Aestheticisation Wounded Soldiers at Khe San (Larry Burrows, 1970?)
The martyrdom of St Stephen (Rembrandt, 1625): The martyrdom of St Stephen (Rembrandt, 1625)
Reading the photograph: Reading the photograph The reading of a photograph is always historical and depends on the readers’ knowledge and cultural situation
Photographic connotation is an ‘institutional’ activity
Text & Image: Text & Image Accompanying text is parasitic on the image
The traditional arrangement whereby images serve the text is reversed in the documentary photograph
Serves simply to amplify a connotation or stress an intended reading
Effect of text on connotation differs according to presentation and proximity
A caption differs from a headline in this respect