Project 18 The Mirror Phase

Project 18 The Mirror Phase

Jacques Lacan first delivered  this paper as a talk in 1949, two years prior to the beginning of the seminars when he developed the thought that we now identify with him (The Mirror Phase as formative of the function of the I).  Lacan argues that infants acquire their 1st sense of self-identity (the formation of an ego) though the experience of looking in a mirror and relating to their image this experience captures the stage in the child's development when they anticipate a mastery of the body that they lack in reality (in other words an infant is not aware of the movement it makes until they see their reflection)?  The body though the mirror image becomes a whole.  When Lacan refers to " The body of Gestalt" (1949) he is referring to the fact that we are presented with an image that we identify with but are unsure which is figure and which is ground.  Until we start to move and watch ourselves do we see that the actual self is, less than perfect and even accentuates the difference between who we are and what we think we are. ( We think and maybe at times feel 21 then see our refection are realise that it is not so).

Examples of Surrealist Work that might echo the Mirror phase

Rene Magritte (1933)    The Human Condition   Oil on Canvas  Washington D C National Gallery of Art

Here we see a pleasant landscape framed by a window.  In front of which is a painting on an easel that "completes" the very landscape it blocks from view.  The problem of the real space versus the spatial illusion is as old as painting itself, but it is imaginatively treated in this picture within a picture.  Magritte's play on illusion implies that the painting is less real than the landscape when in fact both are painted fictions.  The tree, as the artist explained (somewhat confusing in the view of the illusory nature of the "real" landscape as he define it) exists for the spectating "both inside the room in the painting and outside in the real world" i.e. we see is as being outside ourselves even though it is only a mental representation of it that we experience inside ourselves.

Magritte drew freely on the Freudian repertoire of sexual anxiety, occasionally creating works that foil a male heterosexual viewers erotic interest.



My second examples is also by Rene Magritte called "The Interpretation of Dreams  1930 Munich Germany  Oil on canvas

We are confronted with 6 images of familiar objects together with verbal labels - (which are familiar in the language - learning context) suggested by the blackboard like background.  But we soon realise that the words do not match the images under which they appear.  If we try to rearrange them we find that the words do not correspond to any of the images.  In order to be able to operate with symbols it is necessary to 1st be able to distinguish between the sign and the object it signifies  (Leach 1970 43).  Jerome Bruner observed that pre-school children thought and the object of thought seemed to be the same thing, but once at school they learn to separate word and thing (Bruner 1966)  The child soon discovers the apparently magical power of words for referring to things in there absence.




Personal Values   1952   Rene Magritte  1952  San Francisco U.S.A.   Oil on canvas   

In the painting Personal Values the objects of vanity suddenly take on great importance.  The painting is based on a simple but very effective visual trick, objects from daily life are blown up to a monumental scale, and then placed back into a personal setting where they completely dominate and become shocking.  Magritte presents the room with these familiar things but brings  human proportions to the props of everyday life creating a sense of disorientation and incongruity (the inside and outside are inverted) by his rendering of a sky scape on the interior walls of the room.  The familiar becomes the unfamiliar, the normal strange.  Magritte creates a paradoxical world that is in his words " defiance of common sense"



Salvador Dali   The Persistence of Memory  1931 Oil on Canvas   New York

The beach and rocky terrain shown at the top of the painting were likely influenced by Dali's childhood experiences hence the single apparently dead olive tree underlines the dreamlike and desolate character of this landscape.  (Traditionally the olive branch is a symbol of peace, purification and plenty).  The foreground represents a timeless and nameless inner space.  The watch could allude to time passing memory and decay.  The softness of the instruments for measuring time however renders them unreliable.  The limp head in the centre is thought to be Dali's own face, its shape deriving from a large standing rock near the Coast of Cadaques,  with the long eyelashes and tongue like protuberance which could heighten the erotic feel of this creature- the insects are associated with decay - together with a fly- could the meaning be an experience of seeing a dead animal being eaten.

  



Two examples of contemporary media - making use of Jacques Lacan's idea of Mirror Phase.    

In advertising we are invited to project ourselves in to the picture or subject thus becoming the perfect model for the subject advertised.

The film  Curse of the Cat People -This  has Amy the young daughter of Oliver and Alice Reed as a very imaginative child who has trouble differentiating fantasy from reality, has no friends of her own age so makes an imaginary friend through her father's 1st wife at the same time she befriends an ageing reclusive actress who is alienated from her own daughter.

   

The Per Capital Principle   poster by Morgan Slade and Alex Gross.


A film director - who directs actors and film crew alike, control artistic and dramatic aspects.

The gaze is a psychoanalytical term used by Jacques Lacon it describes the relationship of the subject with the desire to look and the awareness that one can be viewed.  The love story, Titanic (1997) a fictional account of the tragic sinking of RMS Titanic (director James Cameron), involoved a fictional love story of Jack ( who dreams of a new life in Amercia) and Rose (the daughter of a once rich family who is being forced to marry into a rich family) This is played out along side the traumatic sinking of the Titanic and the loss of so many lives.  Their love story sustains the viewers enjoyment.
 
                                                                                                                                          

Project 17 Freud, Oedipus and castration

Project 17 Freud, Oedipus and castration

When Freud was around in the early 20th century the male was considered the number one in society, women being the weaker sex, there to do the biding of the male- thus Freud suggests that in the 1st stages of development awareness the child is attracted to the opposite sex and senses rivalry with the same sex as themselves. (he called it the Oedipus complex) he believed that this complex is a universal phenomenon, from our evolutionary make up and is responsible for our guilt complex in the matter.

The dissolution of the Oedipal Complex (Freud 1977) pinpoints which this repressive structure forms and also discusses the causes for its creation.  He (Freud) suggests that the male child wishes to replace his father in the family structure - he identifies the paternal figure as authority therefore by extension have relations with his mother, at the same time being fascinated by his penis he betrays the fact by playing with it frequently (Freud, Oedipus 316)  This met with disapproval by authoritative figures, women and men alike.
The complex itself then is how to replace either the mother or the father without the loss of the penis through castration.

Freud suggests 2 outcomes=   the child replaces the father and has intercourse with the mother or he might want to take the place of the mother and beloved by the father.  (highly unlikely!)

He, Freud theories that adult subjectivity is determined by experiences in childhood and that any experience that differs from the Freudian norm are bound to have a very important bearing on the development of the individual.

Edward Munch   Ashes    This depicts the end of a love affair with the man in despair and the woman indifferent.  The title Ashes refers to the burned out log that runs along the pictures edge  (burned out love) or the death of love.

Munch Norwegian B.1863 D.1944 was tortured by sickness ,death, insanity, rejection, unhappy love affairs and guilt (a text book case for Freud).



In Ashes the feelings of death and despair are shown the work illustrates at least 3 examples of head trauma imprint and the need to support the battered head.  The less obvious being the rock pressing the top of the scull in the right lower corner of the painting.  Other rocks that symbolise skulls of death can be seen just behind the waist of the woman.  The tree- the forest is dark and frighting the decaying tree on the left and the bottom are both symbolic of death.  The body remembers early trauma and the hands would try and attempt to comfort the area that had been effected by the traumatic trauma although the person would not be aware of the previous trauma.  The woman holds her head in sorrow.

A quote from Munch -" for as long as I can remember I have suffered from a deep feeling of anxiety which I have tried to express in my art without anxiety and illness I should been like a ship without a rudder".


Castration in seaside postcards  (humorous variety)

(Small history of the saucy seaside postcard:-  they became wide spread in the 1930s at the peak of their popularity the sale of these reached a massive 16 million a year. They were often bawdy in nature making use of innuendo and double ententes and traditionally featured stereotypically characters such as vicars, large ladies and small put upon men mostly husbands!  Donald McGill was well known as the king of saucy seaside postcards he designed and produced over 12,000 seaside themed cards between 1904-1962.  This then moved forward in the film and television industry with the likes of the Carry on films,  Benny Hill, George and Mildred  etc.

In this postcard the speech in the bubble reinforces the image of the man being the submissive partner  in the relationship who has to seek the advise of his wife on the possibility of help from a doctor concerning his lack of sexual desire - which also reinforces the relationship by showing the domination of the woman (who humiliates him by the response that he is beyond help).  This size relationship can be revised in the same card by the man being  muscular and overpowering against the petite female ( the artist is then turning the cultural relationship of men and woman on his head!!  Only exaggerating the difference would the possibility of such behaviour as depicted on the postcard drawing would be acceptable.

On the postcard above  although the woman is large she has a number of children around her together with the newspaper head line and the (Lumme! - I must warn Bert!) suggests that as mentioned above the man is the dormant partner in this relationship. ( Or is he)!!

We now move to the cinema posters with the provocative female (the high heeled shoes, black stocking,suspenders, open top nurses uniform, long blonde hair, long legs sitting on a stool holding a newspaper with a suggestive headline.  The background comprises of a Large letter X with more suggestive pictures behind.  The colours of blue, black and white are bought forward in to the main theme of the girl the stool the blue under her foot and the orange at the bottom of the poster.  This could be construed as a open invitation.

Project 16 deconstruction- terms of Art

Project 16 deconstruction - terms of Art

The philosopher Derrida divided his time between France and California (University of Irvine). He was given the credit (by some) as the founder of deconstruction (the process of taking concepts apart and rejoining then again sideways or inside out etc.).  He was made aware of this as he move back and forth between France and the U.S.A. Sometimes they (deconstructionists) insist that there is no grounded perspectives (that all are complete) and that we cannot afford to choose one from another this leads to the concept of pluralism(has more than one ultimate principle) and postmodernism (specifically a reaction against modernism said to begin with pop art) Many see these arguments as important to getting to see all perspectives.  While other choose to  avoid this.  At some point there is no grounded perspective that all are complete and that we can ill afford to choose one over the other - Thus the concept of pluralism and post modernism.

Project 16 deconstruction - terms of art

Project 16 deconstruction - terms of art

Examples of deconstruction of an image in film

CBS mini series The Regan's was presented as a deconstruction of the Regan adminisation.

The film Shriek can be considered as a deconstruction of a popular fairy tale.  The terms also used to describe older parades such as Don Quixote and Gulliver's Travels.  Which deconstruct the concepts of knightly order and genre of travel goers respectively.  Thus the use of this term which is only slightly connected to Derrida's original seems to take hold in various ways in recent years.

Gillian Dyer claims that advertising is "the official art" of the advanced industrial nations of the west (1982)

Some even suggest that this works in the same way as myths and primitive societies in as far as it conveys values and beliefs through providing the onlooker with simple stories and explanations which help them to organise their thought and experiences and to make sense of the world.

Every day we are surrounded be advertisements which ever way we turn we will see some form of publicity (latest offers at supermarkets- billboard- magazine's- newspapers- adverts of television even when going to the cinema).  Yet very often we are not aware of the impact these have on ourselves.  Advertisers try to manipulate society into buying a new way of life.

Project 15 Author? what Author?

Project 15 Author? what Author?

Section 1   Michel Foucault      What is an author   pps 949-953

At the start of this essay Foucault is being provocative taking a given and turning it into a problem at 1st glance his question (what is an author) seems pointless as we have become accustomed  to the way we think about authors and authorship.

Foucault reminds us that we regard the concept of authorship as "solid and fundamental" the concept has not always existed. It "came to being at a particular moment in history and it could pass out of being in the future".

He also seems to take up or have a  habit of thinking about authors as individuals, heroic figures who can transcend or step outside history.  Why should we think this way, why not consider the notion that authors are products of our time?  According to Foucault, Barthes had encouraged other critics to realise that they could "do without (the authors) and study work itself   (Question  how can you if you have nothing to go on in the 1st place)?

Foucault then turns his attention to a rival (Derrida though he does not mention him by name) and claims that although Derrida like Barthes presents his views as radical they are quite conventional.  Foucault suggests that Derrida recognises the author, but instead reassigns the author privileges and power to writing or language itself. Why does he bother to do this because he enjoys a fight and does not want his readers to assume that being an author is a dead issue a problem that Barthes and Derrida have already solved  He wishes to show that despite all their inflated language neither Barthes or Derrida has broken away from the question or the author----much less solved it.  Foucault then asks us to think about the ways in which the name functions in our society - names of authors often serve a classificatory function.  For example if you were to go to a bookshop or library and were looking for a certain book you would look for the authors name not the title, what it is about, what year was it  written or published.  You would look for the author.  Why do we assume that it is natural to look this way? What if we were to discover that it had not been written by this person would we be disappointed, after all the novel etc would not change.  Foucault goes on to introduce his concept of the "author function" this is not a person and not confused with the author or the writer it is more like a set of beliefs or assumptions that govern the production, circulation, classification and reading of the text.


Section 2    Roland Barthes  essay  The death of the author  pps 142-148

Barthes opens with a quote from Balzac's novel Sarrasine where the author offers a description of a "castrato" disguised as a woman (p.142)   "this is a woman herself, with her sudden fears, her irrational whims, her instinctive worries, her impetuous boldness, her fussing and her delicious sensibility" (p142)  One of the most widely-known features of intertextuality is Barthes claim that of the death of the author.  He combines psychoanalytical and linguistic theories to argue that the orgins of the text is not a unified authorial consciousness but a plurality of other words utterances and other tests.

Barthes suggests that the meaning of the authors words does not originate from the authors own unique consciousness but from the place of words within linguistic and cultural systems.  The author has the role as a compiler or arranger of pre-existent possibilities within the language system.  Each word sentence, paragraph etc.that the author produces takes its origins from the language system out of which it has been produced.  This view of language expressed by Barthes is what theorists termed inter textual (to Barthes this means that nothing exists outside the text) he destroys the idea that meanings come from and is the property of the individual author.  This synthesises the view that by saying that " the modern sciptor, when they write is always already in the process of reading and re-writing  meaning comes not from the author but the language viewed.  The nature of writing turns both the traditional author and critic in to readers.

Bathes concludes `The Death of the Author` with the following --- a text is made from multiple writings taken from many cultures and entering into mutual relations of dialogue, parody, contention but there is one place where this is focused, that of the reader not as hitherto said the author.  The reader is the space on which all the quotes that make up the writing are inscribed without any being lost a text lies not in its origins (writer) but in its reader so the birth of the reader is the death of the author.

Question  In their view does this mean in the context of art the painter is not the author but the viewer is?  So when we study a painting we interpreted it as our authorship?

Michel Foucault's

At the start of this essay Foucault is being provocative taking a given and turning it into a problem at 1st glance his question (What is an Author?) seems pointless as we are accustomed we have  become to thinking about authors and authorship.  In this section Foucault reminds us that we regard the concept of authorship as "solid and fundamental" the concept has not always existed.  It "came into being at a particulure moment in history and could pass out of being in  the furture.

Foucault also seems to take up our habit of thinking about authors as individuals heroic figures who can transcend or step outside history.  Why should we think this way,  why not consider the  notion that authors are product of their times?

According to Foucault, Barthes has encourged other critics to realize that they could "do without (the authors) and study the work itself.)  Question  how can you if you have nothing to go on in the 1st place?

Foucault then turns his attention to a rival (Derrida though he does not mnetion him by name) and cliams that although Derrida like (Barthes) presents his views as radical they are quite conventional.  Foucault suggest that Derrida reconnises the author, but instead reassigns the authors privileges and power to writting or lauguage itself.  Why does he bother to do this, because he enjoys a fight and does not want his readers to assume that being an author is a dead issue a problem that Barthes and Derrida have already solved.

He wishes to show that dispite all their inflated language neither Barthes or Derrida has broken away from the question of the author --- much less solved it.

Foucault then ask us to think about the ways in which the authors names functions in our society - names of authors often  serve as a classifactory function. i.e.  if you go to a book shop or libuary and are looking for a certain book you would look for the authors name not the name of the book or want it is about (accept for looking under the heading of study, general reading or reference etc) or what year it was published or writtn.  Why do we assume that it is natural to look this way,  what if we were to discover that it had not been written by this person, would we be dissapointed after all the novel etc. would not change.  Foucault goes on to introduce his concept of the authors function  this is not a person and not confused with the author or writer it is more like a set of beliefs or assumptions that goven the production circulation, classification and reading of the text.

I think the art work of both Sherrie Levine and Cindy Sherman is explained in the articles by Foucault and Barthes.  Their work is a mixture of signs which can be liked or dislikes by the viewer (as with other artwork in depends on the person viewing the subject) One example of this is Sherrie Levine's re-photograph  of Walker Evans 1936 photos of a family of sharecroppers in the depression each one using slightly diffrent images so the question one askes is the author Walker or Lervine. At first glance I would say Walker as he did the the orginal then Levine alters the look and gives it a diffrent intrepretation thus giving a diffrent prespective so she could be the author of her photograph?

Cindy Sherman on the other hand does not directly make reference to the orginal work of others.  The author became the actress taking on the role.  Sherman allows the reader to resonate they own meaning from the image.

The cultural move following the 2 articles with the birth of the reader at the expense of the author makes Benjamins concept of the aura in artwork as not so relevant.

Project 14 Myth is a type of speech

Project 14  Myth is a type of speech


In Myth to-day Barthes claims with a witty saussurean irony that this Lolita this poetess named Minou Drouet had her own system of signs (Barthes explains with a clinical disinterest of a scholar who likes boys not girls).  "A tree is a tree. But a tree expressed by Minou is no longer quite a tree it is decorated, adapted to a certain type of consumption laden with literary self-indulgence, revolt, images in short a type of social usage which is added to pure matter".  Barthes is out to destroy the "myth of childhood as a poet".

(Minou Drouet was a poet, musician and actress- a talented young lady Barthes used her in his text to show how myth is used in literature and can distort the signifier signified and therefore the sign)

Therefore take language, discourse speech etc to mean any significant unit or synthesis either verbal or visual, a photograph will be a kind of speech for us the same as a newspaper article even objects will become speech if they mean something long before the invention of the alphabet, objects or simple drawing etc. have been accepted as speech (telling a story, an event in history, how people lived and survived).

Myth today is a type of speech not any type language needs special conditions in order to become a myth

Dictionary definition :  Myth is a fable or narrative under which is hidden a historical or mural truth an invented story (The Westminster English Dictionary) It is therefore not confined to oral speech it can consist of modes of writing or of representations not only of writing but also photography, cinema, reporting, paintings, sport, shows etc.  all these can serve as support to mythical speech.

With regard to the"bunch of roses and a black pebble, roses particularly red roses are passion and love while black pebbles bring to mind coldest and hard these convey emotions  Another example is fire - hell different colours associated with heat, anger and hatred.  The shape of the heart  in any form other than medical represents emotions or love so is not the real representation of an organ.  It is another myth that we have created to signify where we associate where our feelings come from.  (not in the mind?).

James Ravilious 1939-1999  Photographs in black/white are so profound images of all aspects of local life (Devon) landscape, farming life in local towns and villages and their special occasions each one tells a story.

Ivor Brooks rescuing  a lamb in blizzard Miltham Dolton Devon 1978

Archie Parkhouse and Ivor Brooks moving a sick lamb  (in an old tin bath)  Dolton Devon 1976


The Mad Hatter Tea party  By Arthur Rackham  1867-1939

This picture comes from the  classic book Alice in Wonderland (a young girls search for the meaning of a confusing world strikes a chord in a peculiar tale of logic and fantasy).  It is considered to be one of he best examples of literary nonsense genre and its narrative course and structure have been enormously influential especially in the fantasy genre.

Alice is a guest at a " Mad Tea Party"  with March Hare, Mad Hatter and a Sleeping Dormouse" who remains asleep in the teapot of most of the time.

The Hatter is most likely to be a reference to Theophilus a furniture dealer know for his unorthodox inventions.

The March Hare, the Hatter and the Dormouse give several examples in which the semantic value of a sentence (A is not the same value of the converse of A)  i.e. "why you might just as well say that ` I see what I eat' is the same as `I eat what I see"  in logic this is discussing an inverse relationship.

Alice also ponders that meaning when changing chairs around a circular table then places them back where they started.  This is an observation of additions on the ring of ` integer's modulo'

Project 13: mini project on structuralist analysis

Project 13: mini project on structuralist analysis

Two examples of naturalistic paintings of a particular genre,

Example one

The artist and his wife and daughter c 1751-2 (oil on canvas) by Thomas Gainsborough (1727-1788)

This painting has more of a relaxed feeling. The painter shows husband and wife relaxing the latter taking on the role of the mother  the child positioned  between the two (the union).  Gainsborough holds a piece of paper (an allusion to his work as an artist)- is sitting at the same level as his wife (Margaret Burr the illegitimate daughter of an aristocrat)  The child could possibly be their first child Mary who died in 1748.  It is possibly that the painting was done in that year as a posthumous picture of her.  This could explain the look of depressed distraction and the  distance between each other (as if the child has come between them).  Thomas looks past us, sadly, pointlessly, his red jacket not properly buttoned, his hat not positioned right.  Margaret looks nowhere she holds a small posy of white flowers.  The child is the only one that look at us holding what seems to be a stringed purse notice her rosy cheeks.  The dog drinks from the pool

The landscape has a devastating reflection of their feelings, the tree they sit under is half bare the pool dreary the sky grey - suicidal.

Example 2

Girl with a Pearl Earring    (the unknown girl)    c 1665-6     Jan Vermeer (1632-1675)

Vermeer's art looks modern in someways almost photographic - the way the light gathers in bright intense areas, the sharp contrast, the dramatic perspective.  Some art historians speculate he may have been a camera obsara!  But we could be in danger of missing something if we imagine Vermeer as a photographer his realism (any realism) is not a blunt description of the world but an idea.  (Jonathan Jones The Guardian 2/11/2002)

The unknown girl floats disconnected from everything around her including you.  The power and presence  in which she looks at you is incredible as she gazes wide eyed her sensual mouth parted. As the name suggests the pearl earring is the focal point.  Vermeer depicts a beautiful young woman with a vibrant blue turban looking over her shoulder to see who is standing behind her (could it be Vermeer?).  The luminous pearl earring hangs freely and motionless giving the impression of weight and volume. this complements the white collar of her dress.

The combination of the very dark background and the brilliant use of colour in the turban and subdued colours used in her face and dress draw the eye to the girl's intimate gaze.

The speculation as to who could have been the sitter for this painting was, or could have been a servant girl with whom Vermeer began a relationship and painted her wearing his wife's pearl earring.

next we go on to portrait photography formal and informal

Example 1

George Armstrong Custer and Elizabeth Bacon Custer 1860-1865
by Mathew  B Brady 1822-1896

Like Gainsborough's paintings the subjects in this early photograph adopt a frontal view the sitters are
looking directly at the photographer and the posture is of the subjects is staged. The nature of the pose is similar to the immobility  of  most of Gainsborough's paintings (it is not natural).  Elizabeth sitting hands together on lap straight backed, gown perfectly layed out.  George standing in  attendance to his wife one hand on the back of the chair the other behind his back neither have a smile (was this deemed improper in those days.  I suppose this could have been a personal photo or one used to distribute to his followers.

Example 2 

Untitled Firm Still no. 6 1977
by Cindy Sherman
Black and White

Sherman began making the sixty-nine photos in 1977, the first six were an experiment.  Fan magazine glimpses into the roles of women played by Sherman herself.  The photo looks like a movie still or a publicity pix purported to catch the blonde in an unguarded moment at home (this one lounging on the bed).

Sherman poses as a woman daydreaming, she holds a mirror, (a cliched symbol of vanity) in one hand
Momentarily her blank stare triggers a double-take could she become a victim of crime in a police photo killed by the mechanical gaze of the camera, or perhaps awaiting her lover!

Project 12 Rhetoric of the image

Project 12 Rhetoric of the image

1) Etymology - explains origin and history of words
2) Rhetoric - is a type of speaking, writing, visual work used to persuade an audience of validity or truth in a statement or image
3) Semiotics - the study of signs and sign processes - closely related to linguistics.  Is divided into three branches
               a) Semantics  - Relations between signs and the things to which they refer
               b) Syntactics - Relation among sign in formal st ructions
               c) Pragmatics - Relation between signs and the effects they have on people who uses them

Semiotics is the common umbrella term to describe both the Saussurean and the Peirean approach (Ferdinand de Saussure and Charles Sanders Peirce)

Fiske defines semiotics as being essentially a theoretical approach to communications in that its aim is to establish widely applicable principles (Fiske, 1982,p.118) which means that semiotics can be used in anything in the mass media from TV, radio, films,photos, newspapers posters and advents in magazines.

Semiotics is sometimes referred to as "semiology" as the sign of signs or theory of signs others include body language posture facial expressions clothes worn etc.

The advertisers have in their minds exactly who their target is aimed at.  Since the making of them is costly and complex business those involved in the production select and choose ways (for example they choose the image, highlighting, typography, focus camera angle etc.  (one example is to spray a food product with a substance that gives an extra `eat me` look i.e. a shine)

Such a team will draw upon there own perceived concepts and ideas of what the product is about and the target audience it is aimed at.  So in effect adverts consist of many messages (dyer 1986, p.135) but it is up to the individual how they interpret the image they see- and this will be according to the reader/ viewers cultural views.

The first advert I have chosen is that of  L'Oreal men expert vita lift (seen in Live magazine supplement (The mail on Sunday)  This is a magazine aimed at the man of the house with many articles that are expensive.  The adverts is mainly black and white being of  Hugh Laurie (who has recently been advertising the product on TV)   To the right of this photo the product itself with a red hue round it which makes it stand out for the page.  Hugh Laurie has  a knowing expression with a hint of a smile with  the words in brackets "Keep on being yourself "  and under the product  (its not a face lift, its a vita lift).    


The next is Potters Herbals ( In the You magazine supplement to the Mail on Sunday newspaper). The picture again is in black and white which shows an a gentleman in top hat 1800s clothes, finger to his lips, the background is misty (similar to an early photograph) of the sky line and trees the products are in colour one orange, one green and one pink each with a different product (chest mixture, cough mixture and catarrh mixture) I think the advert is saying that the longer the company  has been going (since 1812) the better the product.  Also the products being in colour stand out to catch the eye.


The last product I have chosen is that of a perfume product  Daisy (Marc Jacobs) (also in the You magazine) This advent shows a clear blue sky a field of daises a woman holding the perfume in both hands raised,  face raised to the sun eyes closed mouth slightly open long hair gently blowing in the wind wearing a pure white dress.  This gives the impression of a perfume that is light  and gives the feeling of warm summer days in the countryside.  The colours of the advert are gentle.