Rhetoric of the Image...

Last week I spent a long time reading 'Rhetoric of the Image' by Roland Barthes, but thought i would start the experiment before I wrote about it.

Barthes' introduction questions how strong images can be in comparison with language in terms of meaning, and introduces what his essay will focus on; the advertising image. I am going to write up some notes, and read it again after I have finished the assignment

The three messages
Require cultural knowledge.

Linguistic - title, captions, labels. Is there always text around the image somewhere? We are a 'civilisation of writing'. A technique to 'fix the floating chain of signifieds', helps us to decide what is in front of us. Helps understanding and focus. Limits the power of an image? Directs the reader. - Anchorage.

Words can also be more general. In film, the text gives added information that cannot be seen in the images. - Relay.

Coded Iconic
Different signs, messages:
- return from the market = freshness, domestic.
- tomato, pepper & tricoloured hues (yellow, green, red) = Italiancity
- collection of different objects = 'culinary service'

Non-coded Iconic
Take away the signs - what is left?
Knowledge = perception.
Need to know what an image is and what the objects are.

Denoted image
Denoted drawing less pure than photograph - no drawing with out style. Connotations in drawing style, photographs record what is actually there.

Rhetoric of the Image
Reading an image depends on different types of knowledge - practical, national, cultural, aesthetic..