Language is a collective system of arbitrary relationships between objects and words. In other words, people sharing the same language agreed to call a certain object with a certain word. Analyzing semotics in visual image requires the same principle, yet more complex.
Signifier is an object presented. Signified is what the object refers to in certain circumstance. Signifieds vary under different circumstances. Denotative message is a literal message, and connotative message is a deeper meaning below the surface.
“The text directs the reader through the signifieds of the image, causing him to avoid some and receive others”
As mentioned above, signifieds can vary with a single signifier. A viewer can come up with different interpretations by analyzing a pure visual image without text. Imagine the advertisement without the texts, just the picture. It can be a mere photograph, a work of art in a museum, or a public service advertisement. There comes variety of signifieds out of the same picture. However, the texts, “The Final Episodes – April 8, 9pm/ Made in America” cause a viewer to receive that the picture is an advertisement for a TV show and to avoid other options. Texts let viewers to narrow broad ideas down to more plausible ones to get better understanding of it.
“In the photograph- at least at the level of the literal message- the relationship of signifieds to signifiers is not one of ‘transformation’ but of ‘recording’, and the absence of a code clearly reinforces the myth of photographic ‘naturalness’: the scene is there, captured mechanically, not humanly (the mechanical is here a guarantee of objectivity).”
We have been introduced arbitrary relationships between signifier and signified. This quotation presents another kind of relationship between signifier and signified- the denotative message in the photograph. As introduced, denotative message means literal meaning. Compared to drawing, photograph has been regarded relatively ‘real’ and ‘true’ in depiction because the mechanism is more reliable in representing reality than artists’ hands.
The poster presents an image of New York City and a middle-age man looking somewhat gloomy and worried. Speaking of denotative message, this photograph clearly presents what is there. If this was to be painted by an artist, it may have looked differently. It may distort the atmosphere that the photograph gives.
“The variation in readings is not, however, anarchic; it depends on the different kinds of knowledge- practical, national, cultural, aesthetic- invested in the image and these can be classified, brought into a typology.”
Analyzing linguistic message requires the knowledge of a certain language. If I had no knowledge of English at all, I would not be able to understand the image thoroughly. As mentioned before, signifieds can vary under different circumstances, which are “the different kinds of knowledge”. Because every culture has different interpretation with the same image or gestures, each come up with different conclusions and would not fully understand each other’s interpretations. For example, if someone had no familiarity with the fact that the texts of “The Final Episodes” insinuate that this picture is to advertise a TV show, he would not grasp the fundamental purpose of the picture. The Statue of Liberty may not stand out to indicate the setting of New York City to someone who does not know where the statue exists. Because it does not tell what year this is for, if it were for the red color of the text, someone might interpret it as an advertisement for an old show. Current economic situation of the United States, the knowledge of the nation, may influence someone to think about recession by looking at it.
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