Thursday, September 27, 2012

Week 4 Visual vs Symbolic Language- Veteran


This photo shows a man in military uniform giving a salute, directed at someone off screen. The figure, implied to be a Veteran, is back lit by the sun directly behind him, as well as the American flag flying behind him. The whole scene is set off by a bright blue sky.

Responses:

  • Patriotism
  • Honor
  • Confidence
  • Neatness
  • Bright
Symbols:
  • American flag-  denotes United States, patriotism, and victory.
  • Blue sky- denotes calmness, nature, good, this means things are going well.
  • Veteran- denotes military, support for elders, victory.
  • Salute- denotes ceremony, respect, recognition, and greeting.

The underlying compositional structure shows intention to reinforce the goal of the photograph. This includes having the flag be in motion, creating a sensation of movement, as well as the back lighting effect of the sun behind the Veteran as well as the flag. This back lighting creates a 'halo' effect, implying 'good'. Also, positioning the camera slightly below the subject being photographed makes that  subject, in this case the Veteran, appear to be more powerful, as the viewer is looking up at the subject.



Photo source: http://www.haneylawfirm.com/wp-content/themes/SM/images/us-veteran.jpg

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