Complex Image Reading
Representation and interpretation is an interesting aspect in today’s communication and media. It is all around us and has evolved to engage an active, rather than previously passive audience. Audiences, acting as decoders of various material, have become more sceptical of information and how it is represented. We question, research and interpret it to come to our own understanding on what is presented by the sender. This effect is caused causality and derives from the basics of semiotics and ideology. Rather than simply reading the visual denotations of an image, we draw connotations between what is seen and represented. How we do this varies between individuals depending on their experiences, beliefs, knowledge and ideological position, hence signs or media texts can be read in several ways.
In my research, I came across a campaign by World Wide Fund (WWF). It represented humanities harmful impact on the environment to promote awareness and prevention. The image (featured above) didn’t explicitly state this objective however, it’s what I came to find through my own experiences and knowledge. The denotations exhibited a nature themed Tower, built up of glass or plastic containers. Each displayed variations of environmental and animal based scenarios inside, involving birds, trees, elephants and water. The tower was starting to topple as the human hand, which is seen pulling out a block from the tower, had misplaced a few blocks, presumably. Its standing stature and formation of the interlayer blocks visually symbolise a Jenga Tower. This tower belongs to the popular game Jenga, where people use skill and strategy to take turns removing and restacking blocks to the top of the tower. The objective is to take from the tower and build up, until someone causes the tower to tip over. You usually find the tower balances in a very uneasy and unnatural way towards the end, as the lower blocks become more independent. Some might say it’s a good metaphor for life, if you can relate, welcome to the sisterhood. Due to my knowledge of Jenga’s context and awareness of humanities environmental impact, it is clear to me that the hand represents humanity as a whole, who is repeatedly taking away and toying with the environment in an effort to construct and use it in a way, which causes the ‘human’ to win. However, as time goes on, the foundation of the blocks, AKA the environment and animals, begins to topple and loss balance as it struggles to prosper when it’s being unnaturally deconstructed. It is through this connotation that the poster fulfils its advertising objective and evokes responses that are complex yet recognisable to everyday audiences.
By Kayla Mathew
If you’re going down a blog spiral, feel free to continue and check out some more complex advertisements below. Lets see what you make of them…
Capture By Kayla 