Photographic representation and cultural codes and conventio

Newspaper photographs can so easily appear real, unmediated, appearing as an exact replica of a given moment. But a photograph is a construction and can only be a representation of reality, and as this essay will highlight what is accepted as real depends on cultural contexts, historical contexts, literacy’s and ideologies. There are many decisions taken by the photographer such as; focusing, lighting, camera angle that produce various representations and create different connotations. These connotations can be related to each other and to the photograph as a whole producing a combination of signs or a syntagm. This essay will use Ferdinand de Saussure’s semiology (which originated at the end of the nineteenth century) as a tool of analysis to understand the attached photograph from the Sydney Morning Herald.

A photograph can only be a representation of reality as distinct from reality itself. Stuart Hall (as cited in Australian Screen Education, 20 Aug, 2002) suggests that “…representation is a very different notion from that of reflection. It implies the a

There are varied connotations that can be read into this image, depending on who is reading this image and the cultural codes and conventions they apply. whilst a photograph may have poleysemic meanings one interpretation is usually dominant. Connotations can have a shared, or dominant, meaning by many people in a culture. In our society dark suits connote intelligent business people and striking ties are a metaphor for individuality; a ‘mover and shaker’, not a wallflower. I know that there is political tension within the Federal Labor party regarding the Opposition Leader Simon Crean and his ability to lead the party. Therefore I can see the strong affirmative handshake between Simon Crean and Kim Beazley, see that they are looking directly at each other, see that Kim Beazley is smiling and connote unison.

The shot size used in a photograph is another code inherent in the image. The closer the shot is to its subject, the more intimate the viewer/reader is to the object and the more subjective the view. A telephoto lens, which I suggest this photo has been taken with, allows us to get closer to the subjects and therefore becoming more intimate, and by looking over Simon Crean’s shoulder has connotations of voyeurism. The combination of these technical signifiers; photo size, lens and angle, help to understand the photographs connotations.

The size of the photograph and the position it takes on the front page is an important code for the reader as it affects the attention given to the paper. The front page is often seen as the major selling point of the paper, it is what attracts the potential reader to buy the paper and to read further. The size and position is also an important signifier of the importance of the story and the image itself. The very fact that this picture took up such a huge proportion of the front page of the newspaper, sends a message to us that this story is of large significance, demanding our attention.

ctive work of selecting and presenting, of structuring and shaping; not merely the transmitting of an already-existing meaning.” Hall also suggests that nothing in this world has true meaning until we, society, via cultural codes, apply one. This supports Michel Foucault’s theory on ‘regimes of truth’ which suggest that truth is controlled not by its realness but by those who have the power to control the truth. In the photograph we can argue that those controlling the power and therefore the representation are the newspaper photographer/editor etc and they consciously portrayed Simon Crean as ‘small’

Some topics in this essay:
Simon Crean, Schirato Yell, , Kim Beazley, Simon Crean’s, Screen Education, Morning Herald, Beazley Kress, Michel Foucault’s, Van Leeuwen, simon crean, kress van, kim beazley, kress van leeuwen, cultural codes, van leeuwen, front page, historical context, photograph representation, codes conventions, labor party, variety interpretations depending, interpretations depending ideological, text variety interpretations, depending ideological standpoint,