Hi everybody.
I hope everyone is enjoying their Wednesday so far. Today I am going to discuss everything to do with visual analysis.
Last week at university we were briefed on what our next task was going to be and it was a bit different this time as we were given a piece of individual work to do. I was so excited by this concept but also a little bit daunted as I had been used to working in a group from very early on in the course. Our task was to visually analyse a fashion photograph and write a 750 word piece on it. My photograph was a beautiful one from Iain McKell centred around a gypsy child in a little hut in the outdoors.
We were taught how to properly analyse a photograph to a better standard than we may have been used to doing in the past. We were told to look for different techniques used by the photographer such as lines, pattern, rhythm and balance to ensure we were going in to a deeper analysis of the image. We also explored semiotics which is "the study of signs and symbols and their use or interpretation". I found this quite a challenging concept to get my head around but I gave it a go to the best of my ability. I found connotations and denotations a bit easier to explore in my piece as I had been used to exploring connotations through school as I did english literature which ive always loved so much.
We were given a writing frame that we could go by, starting by describing exactly what is in the image to then moving on to a more deeper analysis feeding in your own ideas and interpretations too. I initially started by doing a bit of research in to these kinds of shoots which Iain Mckell called 'The New Gypsies'. It was all about capturing modern day gypsies and exploring the simple lives and pleasures that they have. With this in mind, one of my interpretations was that this photograph symbolised enjoying the little things you have in life. I thought that this was depicted by the simple things that she has around her such as the milk, oil, trainers and flask. They are the things you might need to live. I thought it was also quite peaceful against a chaotic city life, it is almost like she is looking out and just appreciating what she has. I spoke about the trees in the photograph being a frame for the image and how they very much reminded me of the film 'Sleepy Hollow'! I also delved in to a deeper analysis of her red jumper. Red signifies excitement, passion and more so I thought this might be how it felt to live as a gypsy and those life long bonds you would make with those around you. I discuseed how red can also symbolise vulnerability as she is a child being photographed alone. I think this could be anther perception but I went more down the excitement and passion route. I also thought that this photograph had some colour balance as there are brighter colours against the more muted ones.
On Monday during my parallel seminar we got some peer review feedback on our pieces and they thought that I had done a good job discussing connotations and my own interpretation. I also got some great constructive criticism which I could use in the future such as writing my piece in paragraphs to make it easier to read (can you believe I used to do English Literature and forgot this... whoops) and to talk more about semiotics which is something I will definitiely try to learn more and take on board.
Overall, I really enjoyed this new format and doing something a little bit different. It gave me lots of inspiration on how I can be better in the future.
Thank you so much for reading - now for some chocolate ;)
Niamh x
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