Exercise: implicit and explicit

I've sourced a number of advertisements below that I believe use either implicit or explicit advertising methods to sell their products.

The ad below for deodorant, is selling the idea of a woman's sexual availability to any man that uses the product. The ad uses a visual metaphor for sex but the connotations are very easy to read. I would say there is an explicit visual message being used to promote the brand. 

In this ad the company is promoting a salad dish. The visual joke is that the consumer, a woman who is concerned about her weight, has become so thin from eating the salad product that the company's ubiquitous paper crown just slips down her head to her ankles. This is an implicit message, promoting the value of the product in achieving weight loss. Although maybe not intended, I can detect a second message here too. We all know sex sells. The crown around the woman's ankles could also be a visual metaphor for getting lucky - because eating the product will make you more likely to be thin and sexually attractive?  

This ad for sexual health is about explicit in advertising terms as they get. There is no subtle message here, the message is clear. Carry a condom because you never know where you will need to use it.

This climate change ad uses an implicit advertising message. The implication being that not acting on climate change and rising sea levels will result in human adaptation to fish-headed men. The viewer has to understand the visual metaphor to be able to understand the message. No-one seriously believes that we will evolve into half fish, half human. The message is projecting a possible scenario in our distant future to remind us to act now before it is too late.

In many ads the consumer is aware that the message being sold is unlikely. The deodorant ad above for example. I'm sure many young men realise that using the product is not going to allow them free access to sex with women covering themselves in cream. What happens is they enjoy the message. They want to see themselves like the man in the ad who is going to get lucky. They align themselves with the ad's message and product. A fantasy is being sold and the viewer consumer knows it but buys into the product all the same. Advertising can be very complex and subtle at times and often plays subliminal tricks on the mind.

Exercise: what are they selling?

In this skincare ad for moisturiser, the idea of preserving youthful skin is being sold to a mainly female audience. The split image uses the notion of scientific rigour to portray before and after images that 'prove' the ads claims. Text is used to point out four areas of visible skin improvement.

From the list of eight hidden needs of psycho seduction, I've found three that are implicit in this advertisement: 

immortality 

reassurance of worth

emotional security

In this ad for Ducati motorbikes thrills, speed and freedom, are being sold mainly to men. The idea of breaking the law is denoted in the image as the police helicopter is the only machine fast enough to catch the speeding biker. The ad has connotations of rebelliousness.

From the list of eight hidden needs of psycho seduction, I've found three that are implicit in this advertisement:

    

reassurance of worth

ego gratification

sense of power

This beer ad uses tradition and a shooting party to portray its brand as belonging to an elite club. The image connotes class status and wealth. The couple having a picnic in the foreground appear to be separate from the main party but still part of the traditional activities taking place.

From the list of eight hidden needs of psycho seduction, I've found three that are implicit in this advertisement: 

sense of roots

reassurance of worth

ego gratification

Punctum

• a point of visual interest to which your eye keeps being drawn.
• a point which causes an emotive reaction within the viewer.
• a point that causes conjecture as to why it makes you feel the way you do about the image.

These three bullets from the course notes are useful for remembering how punctum works. I would also say that punctum is subjective and that although studium is always embedded in an image (to enable the viewer to decode it) punctum isn't always present for an individual viewer.

I looked at some (non-OCA) student's examples of punctum and studium on the web. In my opinion there were some clearly incorrect examples being used. A photograph of an upturned car, placed in the centre of the frame, is clearly the subject of the image - and therefore part of the image's studium. If, for instance, the photographer had photographed a woman standing against a wall covered in pasted news headlines then, the woman is the subject, and the mass of newspaper headlines (for the photographer) are an interesting backdrop - all part of the studium. If, in one of those newspaper pictures, the upturned car could clearly be seen, then that could be a point of punctum for those that perceived it. That to me, is what punctum is.

But when I start to think more deeply about the definitions of punctum and studium, I see issues with regard to the points above. What if those points were specifically created by the maker? Can they still be punctum? Surely sometimes those points are specifically placed into an image to be decoded as part of the studium. So how can they be punctum? Is it just because the viewer sees them that way and doesn't perceive the intended denoted or connotative message?

When I think of the constructed work of Cindy Sherman for example. When every element has been planned; when every prop has been placed into the image; how can a viewer see any punctum? I took some time thinking about these concepts and eventually saw that a point in an image can have entirely different connotations than those intended by the maker. Perhaps punctum could be perceived in this way - a point could be both studium (placed there with connotations/denotations for the maker) and punctum for the viewer as it triggers different thought processes, memories, etc. I'm straying into the slippery path of the subject of the de-centered image here.

I think the points above work well when analysing documentary or 'straight' images. That's how Barthes analysed the image of his mother at the winter gardens. And indeed, I've been fascinated by mundane or obscure details taking place in the background of images myself, many times. But when I start to look at conceptual or constructed work with punctum and stadium in mind then I find that these definitions become slippery and less easy to grasp.

Exercise: Targeting an audience

This section of the module looks at advertising. The fourth assignment is designed to pull together what I've learnt in this section and make a calendar. I have no idea where I'm going with my ideas yet -  I have to think about them a bit more and complete the exercises.

This first exercise of this section asks me to look at three current adverts and analyse them as to who, what, and how:

Who is the intended market for the product?

What are they selling?

How are they selling it to the customer?

For the product below the who and the what is obvious; we all eat breakfast cereal don't we? The how I've written in more detail for two adverts below:

This ad for Weetabix uses the notion of health and vitality to portray their product. The image implies that only two ingredients exist in Weetabix - sunshine and wheat; the consumer only has to add the milk for a nutritious, healthy breakfast. There are no people visible in the ad. Many people are needed to transform the wheat in a field through to a factory formed product that ends up on the breakfast table. Once harvested by mechanical means, the product is processed in a factory with added chemicals. This is part of an efficient production process to add colour, texture, and sweetness to the product. Other chemicals are added to lengthen the storage and shelf life.

The ad ignores the reality of factory food production and instead visually imbibes the product with wholesome goodness. 

This ad for the same product uses a completely different approach. Gone are the notions of natural products growing in a sun-kissed field untouched by mechanical production and processing methods.

This image is more post-modern in its visualisation. The viewer is shown a rather grand table setting with a fancy spoon and plates (notice there are four plates stacked from smallest to largest) They all have a crown emblem, as does the napkin ring and spoon handle. This is a breakfast fit for a queen.

I think this advert works on multiple levels. It would appeal to those of a conservative disposition who would perhaps aspire to and enjoy all things grand and traditional. The text 'Fuel Britannia' I think is a knowing nod to 'Cool Britannia' a phrase that was in circulation during the 1990s. The text is there to diffuse any sense of stuffiness and makes the whole image a visual pun. For me, it conjures up additional images of mopeds, street cool, Ginger Spice in her union jack dress - a modern Britain that still keeps the best of its traditions. This is a clever image that works for different audiences.

Below are some more adverts I've noticed online:

This advert is for an I.T. outsourcing company:

Who - I would say that the customers clients are other companies that need I.T. services to enable them to operate their business. This advert would be aimed at professionals making financial decisions on behalf of their companies.

What - Expertise in I.T. services and also peace of mind that sudden technical breakdowns or mammoth infrastructure overhauls can be handed over to a third party to sort out.

How - Through the use of sizeist humour and narrative. In the foreground, a guy with a muscular physique and cool jeans stands legs apart, his hand on hip. He scratches the back of his head at the thought of 'scaling' such a 'mammoth' task as the naked woman on the bed. The implication being that we wouldn't want to undertake the task ourselves (because she's fat, innit!) but the guy in the jeans is ready to have a go, no matter how difficult, he gets the job done  - 'HILARIOUS!'  Oh, HO! HO! HO!

In other words, by outsourcing I.T. services, all those insurmountable I.T. tasks (such as upgrading infrastructure etc) will be done by a company with a willingness to figure out how to complete the job.

I do wonder how the woman model feels about being photographed and used in an advert this way?

This advert for Burger King surprised me. I thought family oriented companies didn't go in for this type of humour.

Who - the clients that eat the produce. This would be people of all ages and demographics.

What - they are selling convenience food that can be consumed either at rest stops, or on the move.

How -  sexual humour is being used to promote the product. I'd be interested to know actually how a family audience would react to this visual imagery - with it's obvious references to seven-inchers and blow jobs. Maybe the ad works on the level of an in-joke between adults that children are oblivious to.


When advertising works well it is enjoyable to read and see. Where the industry lets itself down is its continual re-enforcing of visual stereotypes. I have to say how surprised I am at the blatant stereotyping on most of the advertisements I researched online. I'd thought as a society we were starting to move away from this kind of rubbish. It appears that as long as the concept is done in a jokey way then it's acceptable. The whole culture of  'it's not sexist, racist or homophobic - it's just 'banter' seems to be very prevalent for the last few years. Also, as I tend to fast forward through adverts on TV, don't buy fashion magazines or newspapers, I think I've been a bit caught unawares by how much sex is still used to sell product.

The advertising industry is a very creative place but creativity is directed by market forces. If it makes money then all is good. Sometimes adverts are deliberately designed to shock. Even bad news is good news. It is hard to see if this attitude will ever change.

Jackson Pollock - Convergence

My first thoughts on analysing Jackson Pollock's 'Convergence' was that I was looking at a pleasing arrangement of coloured squiggles. I used to like Abstract Expressionism when I viewed it as decorative art - as something to hang on a wall to fit in with a room scheme. Then I grew tired of it. I know there is much more to this kind of art, and I don't intend to be dismissive, but I do find myself initially looking at the work from an aesthetic viewpoint. Once I get past this stage then I can look more deeply, but I do find this to be a problem for me that I don't usually have with photography.

'Convergence' is a four colour piece, co-ordinated using different paints with a background of black lines that seems to hold the 'design' very well. To review the work I really need to see it in its original form and at the correct size - which I understand is pretty big. Also, any painting would have texture that relates to the paint and its canvas which is lost when looking at a photograph. Once I began to spend time looking at the work I started to see patterns that evolved into faces and body parts - torsos, legs, a fleeting expression on two faces pressed close together - chest hair. Focusing on different colours bring alternative elements of the work into the foreground and it feels like the landscape of the painting changes and flows. The mind goes into free form and I understand from my research that abstract expressionism uses this style of painting to free up the mind and search for universal unconscious meaning. Pollock himself underwent Jungian Psychoanalysis and his drip painting method from which 'Convergence' is derived is a technique that helped the artist to express automatic unconscious emotions. The different coloured lines, swirls, whoops and whirls show depth in the work and I suppose the viewer brings what ever they want to the image when they view it.

This is not the sort of work I would usually make as a photographer. I can see though that free association of thoughts occur when looking at work that has no apparent narrative structure. The eyes and the mind work together looking for meaning and because of an absence the viewer constructs their own ones. This is a useful technique to be aware of that can be inserted into narrative sequences.

Tracey Emin - My Bed

This piece of work is in the form of an art installation. The bed in question needs to be walked around; the detritus of cigarette packets, empty bottles of booze, stained underwear, slippers, a razor, a cuddly toy and tangled sheets need to be analysed and viewed from all angles.

A photograph just shows us one viewpoint. With that said the image shows us work that is full of narrative possibilities. The discarded stockings, used condoms, and towel thrown on the bed, speak of a sexual encounter and the passing of time. Where are the occupants now? Who are they? The title 'My Bed' tells us this is the bed of the artist. By researching further I've found out that the work refers to Emin's 'Lost Weekend' after the breakdown of a relationship. Emin herself describes the work as a self portrait. But self reflection can allow us all through the commonality of experience to reflect on times in our own lives when, faced with a crisis, we may have responded with the heart and not the head.

I should imagine that to see the work in reality could be quite a visceral experience and touch the senses. I would personally feel slightly uncomfortable at the thought of being so close to a strangers bodily fluids and sweat stained sheets. Do these feelings bring me closer to the work? They are less likely to be conjured up quite so powerfully when looking at the image because we are one step removed from the work itself.

The crumpled sheets of 'My Bed' remind me of a photograph by Imogen Cunningham. 'Unmade Bed' is a Modernist study of form, using light and shadow to depict strong shapes and textures - raising the bed up from the banal and everyday. Even the hair clips that should provide context and narrative look carefully placed and formal. Whereas Cunningham's work is a piece of carefully composed Modernist still life - and a photograph; Emin's piece is more a metaphor for messy, complicated, illogical life - and of course, it is essentially a piece of contemporary installation art.

Matthew Barney - Cremaster Cycle

Cremaster Cycle - videos available on Youtube

What do you think was the artist's intent? 

This work uses Surreal imagery to describe the formation and descent of the gonadal structure in the human male. By using a Surrealist style the artist can show parallels with the concept that occur in our larger society. For instance, the division, formation and re-formation of biological structures into more complex forms is used by Barney to show developing societies from their early pre-industrial formation to vast, complex, Capitalist ones.

What does the image make you feel? Does it create any questions or conflicts in your mind?

The images make me think about the complex nature of our bodies, lives and society. I think about the random chances that have affected changes in these structures and make them the way they are. For instance a pregnant mother can have an accident that will directly affect the formation of the foetus; a random occurrence in someones life pathway can steer them on a different course; technological changes, war, and religious doctrine have structured societies in a certain way. I have realised that there is no one 'right' way of living our lives (in Western society) they just turned out that way.

Why do you think the artist has chosen to work in this way?

By using video film and the Surrealist genre the artist has access to a rich visual language to explore and express ideas. The high production value of the five films show considerable attention to detail. The use of sets, clothes, props, and lighting make for very convincing fantasy worlds.

Is this art?

If the artist says their work is art then as far as I'm concerned then it is. Whether it is good, bad or mediocre art is another matter.


Write a short 250 word review of each work and its relevance to your practice (if any) in your learning log.

250 word review:

The reviews of the Cremaster Cycle, a five-part Surrealist extravaganza, talk about the cremaster muscle and its ability to raise and lower the male testes. Some of the reviews focus on male ejaculation and sex; others look at the gonadal structure and how it is formed from undifferentiated structures during growth; lastly, some reviewers write about wider concerns of life, birth and death, and how these are metaphors for the development and structuring of our societies.

The Cremaster Cycle is so vast in its scope that it is most probably all of these elements rolled up into one big filmic, Surrealist fantasy. Before reading the reviews I watched all of the films and certainly picked up biological aspects. All of Barney's films show structures that have an individual cocooned inside. They are shown underneath tables in twin airships; inside co-joined cars at petrol stations; and scaling the lift shaft of the Chrysler building. The individual always seeks to find a way out. They concoct ways of breaking free and there is an element of change that affects them during the struggle. All of the individuals have attendants that are waiting or observing the struggle/change. I'm reminded of biological systems that monitor growth and release hormones at appropriate times during development.

When I discovered through research the function of the cremaster muscle, the struggles and changes to Cremaster's characters became clearer and helped me understand the fundamental aspect of the work that Barney was seeking to portray. Playing out around these scenes of struggle are vast panoramic sequences - dancing girls, metal bands, masonic ritual, Celtic giant myth, motorbike sidecar racing, that to me all indicate the formation of Paternalistic societies into structures and systems for living. I see these scenes as metaphor for the organisation of the undifferentiated gonadal structure into fully formed and descended testes.

I've used metaphor and allusion quite strongly in my own practice and can certainly see some parallels with Barney's work. I quite like to leave open-ended meaning in my images. I work on a much smaller scale  - on sequences of stills that are constructed; it is possible they could be viewed as Surreal. I have no plans to move toward film. The rich visual tapestry of Barney's work is inspiring and certainly a goal that I would like to move towards achieving at some point.

Exercise - artistic styles

Write 150 words on a subject that is important to you. Then make images in the style of Constructivism, Surrealism, and Conceptual Art.

I am interested in looking into the hidden histories of minorities. This is important because most cultures will have a dominant history that will always be viewed as the 'natural' and 'real' interpretation of the facts. But historians are not objective. They are not robots. They are human just like the rest of us - and as such, they will always interpret facts according to their own cultural, political and emotional bias. This means that other histories, such as those of women, minority races, and people of sexualities outside the heterosexual binary gender norm, are suppressed or misrepresented.

It is important for a balanced and equal society that these people are able to represent themselves. They need to take control of their own identities and not have one mirrored back to themselves by a majority that often sees no value in their existence.

Here's my attempt to express the above sentiments in the Constructivist style. Firstly I looked at a number of images made by El Lissitzky and noted the use of bold geometric shapes in his work. I took inspiration from his designs and then gathered a number of images from the Internet and tried to place them in a way that would show how learning about minorities has traditionally been interpreted via the dominant establishment. The guarded doorway shows this idea. I don't think it is too bad for a first attempt - particularly the idea to show alarm clocks being lobbed through the gateway and past the policeman. I played around with the placement of the objects quite a bit until I was happy with the design. It probably could be improved a bit further but I am now ready to move on and create a Surrealist version.

Constructivist:

Edit: 10th Nov

This time I have chosen to produce a piece of work that looks specifically at the issue of control and representation of sexual minorities. I have used the LGBT Rainbow flag on my painted tanks and show a citadel of learning under siege. The hegemonic citadel is made up of pieces of cityscape and library books with a picket fence encircling it. The rainbow tanks attempt to storm the citadel and set up their own representation. In doing so they have to contend with resistance from the jellyfish. These creatures stand for the all-encompassing and insidious suppression that attempts to silence minorities in mainstream society.

I think my image is not a bad attempt at Surrealism. I could spend a few more hours on Photoshop pulling the image together but I have made my point quite strongly and am more inclined to move on with the course.

Surrealist:

Exercise - Getting the Parr Feel

This morning I've been practising with my flashgun. The exercise involves making work like Martin Parr. I thought I'd start off by practising indoors on some bright and shiny objects. The images look quite 'harsh' and I've cranked up the contrast and colour saturation. This step was easy and now I really need to go outside and take some more in daylight this time. The object of shooting flash outside is to learn how to successfully balance ambient light with the use of flash to get those strident colours so characteristic of much of Parr's work. I'm not sure about photographing strangers using my flash though - I think that is a step too far. I will try to make some people shots with friends and family with this exercise.

Exercise - shooting from the hip

I chose Leysdown, a seaside town in Kent, that seems to attract a large number of Londoners for my shooting from the hip exercise. I'm not quite sure what the attraction is for so many Londoners to this place but it is very popular and compared to some south coast towns it is bustling with people and energy. I looked at the course notes for this exercise and followed some of the advice in the web links - mainly to take care and not appear too obvious. I wasn't going to be putting my camera in anybody's faces like Martin Parr or Gary Winogrand.

One useful tip was to put my camera on a strap and use the interval timer to take surreptitious photos. That was definitely more me. I set the camera to quiet mode too which stopped the tell-tale focus beep from going off. As it happens the biggest problem was hearing the shutter going off on the crowded town streets. I could turn and point the camera, strung sideways across my body, to point at interesting people or situations but I had no idea if the shutter was due to fire in the 40 second intervals selected. I overcame this by taking out my phone and using its stopwatch feature. Every 40 seconds or so I prepared to compose a picture and that helped a lot.

This exercise is quite hard to do. The images are all slanted so the camera needs adjusting for the next time I try this exercise. I don't mind that too much but for every image it can get a bit monotonous. I've found that street photography isn't really my thing anymore. I feel I've moved on from it. I did enjoy the exercise but I wasn't entirely comfortable photographing people without their knowledge to be honest. There are certain shots that I've left out because of this. A shot of a bare chested, overweight man with his dog, springs to mind.

I think the images are fairly honest. I have gone for an edit that shows colour and pattern by focusing on the slightly gaudy seaside surroundings. I can see that using this technique on multiple trips to the same location could be quite rewarding in terms of achieving a coherent photo-set for a project. It feels a bit like 'fishing' though? Going back again and again to capture compositions to fit a sequence is not something that particularly interests me. That is probably why I have moved more towards constructed imagery in my own work.

Exercise: The Journey

'Go on a journey. This needn't be a long journey but make it a journey you haven't done before.'

This is my second attempt at this exercise. The first one to a local beauty spot was a bit of a failure in terms of a photo essay. I liked the images. I just couldn't find a narrative in them and they were all a bit too similar. Knowing when to put aside work is a valuable skill that I've acquired in the last module. It's all about confidence really, and having the strength to move on - even if a lot of work and emotional energy has been invested.

With my second attempt I decided to use Hastings as a location. I've been to the seafront here before and I wanted to see if I could look at the place with fresh eyes - find vistas and elements that were new to me. Hasting's seafront was easily a good choice to go on a journey. The British seaside is awash with sights and sounds to inspire a photographer - bright colours, crazy people behaving out of character etc. Once I had the images processed I analysed what I had and began to detect certain key elements to form a structure to my photo essay. I'd photographed a number of signs and symbols, most of them made out of brightly coloured plastic, such as the ice cream cone pictured below. In my sequencing I paired these up with other more explanatory images using long shots of the pier or landscape type images of the sea and beach. I've also included brightly coloured municipal flower beds and other detail shots that I found interesting.

I find that pairing them up with one another on a spread is a complex matter. There are a lot of elements in the design process that need to be taken into account. To keep it simple I decided to use a plain layout with centred images that match in either colour, style, or content. So, I looked at the sequence below and attempted to make matches using my planned strategy. The chosen sequence has a certain Martin Parr feel about it - although I have opted more for a 'sense of place' as denoted by the objects and street architecture than by the people themselves.

My discards from the contact sheet are below. I printed all my first selections out and cut them up to arrange on a table. I've probably mentioned this before but I find that the best way to sequence images is to physically move them around, sorting and re-sorting. I just cannot do this in the same way on a computer screen. Patterns and links between images are much more easily spotted when laid out like this.

As you can see I photographed the area with a number of different concepts in mind. The easiest one to spot is the images of shop fronts. I was thinking about highlighting some of the quirky and more traditional business premises. Similarly I took a number of shots of the fire damaged pier and the construction work being undertaken. These were weeded out of my first selection and the remainder on subsequent revisions.

Exercise - the decisive moment

This exercise is to try and capture our own 'decisive moments'. There are a number of ways of doing this. By far the easiest is to use a technique whereby the photographer finds an interesting location or composition and waits for something to happen. A person may walk by and fit just the right criteria for the shot. There may be an advertisement, abandoned piece of furniture, or signpost that needs an extra element that a human figure can provide. Another way is to go 'hunting' and look for people doing interesting things. This can be much harder to do because the photographer has no control over background and may incur many 'fails' until the right shot is acquired.

In this exercise I used the latter method, and went for a walk at the beach to see what I could find.

Sequence 1:

I spotted this couple taking a rest at the shoreline and noticed the symmetrical positions that they were using - mirroring each others poses. I used my camera's telephoto lens to zoom in and took a number of shots, hoping that at some point they would do something that could be considered a decisive moment. For me, shot number two, where there is a shared look between them, strengthens the poses they're adopting. In a moment the look has gone and they look down at something in the water. Obviously I'm not Cartier-Bresson, so it's not much of a moment, but it illustrates nonetheless the techniques employed.

In this sequence I noticed the woman struggling with the parasol. I could see much more of the woman than has been captured by my camera. She is barely noticeable. At the moment I was shooting a dog suddenly wandered into shot. I kept shooting and it seems the dog now makes more of an interesting focal point than my original subject. I'd probably choose my fourth shot as the most interesting.

A line of older women leaving the shade of the bench. As they all formed a line to head for the road I zoomed in and began shooting. They began to separate out and there is only one shot that I would consider usable and that is number six. The woman at the end is lagging behind, making her more distinct from the background, and the leader of the pack has not yet started to cross behind the rubbish bin.

This exercise is very difficult to do and requires a good deal of time and effort to achieve any degree of success. I don't know how in the era before digital how photographers managed to achieve so many worthwhile images. I do think that in those days people were more accepting of photographers pointing lenses at them and getting really close. The age of picture magazines probably made it more acceptable. The course notes state that Robert Frank took 28,000 images (on film!) for his book The Americans. Out of that huge number 80 photographs were selected for publication. That is an awful lot of decisive moments to select from.