Semiology is the study of signs. Roland Barthes introduced this idea, modifying the theories suggested by Ferdinand de Saussure in linguistics as an underdeveloped area of science related to signs and signification. This system of signs can be interpreted in other forms music, entertainment and photographic language. The relational value of signs can be established through this powerful tool named semiology (Pearson, 2015). This is significantly effective when the readers or the spectators fail to interpret the deeper meaning of the text. Not only the creator’s ideology, but the semiology also brings various social aspects to the surface. It is general practice for the viewers to interpret the artistic expression in a very literal sense, but semiology brings out the deeper meaning that was hidden underneath (Kiefer, 2015). In the process, it might bring out the ugly truth by penetrating the beautifies superficial surface. However, it should also be considered that out social understanding often shapes the interpretation. The relationship that photograph establishes with the objects is quite different from other art forms as it corresponds with its representation and that is why Charles Sanders called photography as a referent (Robins, 2014).
Barthes explained sign as a complex relationship between signifier and signified (Chandler, 2017). The signifier is the object through which the idea or signified is expressed. The example has been used to highlight the meaning of signifier and signified is a red ketchup bottle. The signified here is the ketchup like this that you built through your experience. The signifier is that is not any other sauce than the specific red ketchup. Barthes also talked about denotation or the literal meaning of sign that acts as the first level of signification and the connotation is understanding the meaning beyond the denotation (Yan & Ming, 2015).
Because photograph has a real effect, it has a convincing power through expressing an un-coded message. Most critics have explained that building the perception is also a decoding process so like any other sign photography is also limited by the contextual meaning. However, Smith and Lefley have argued that the un-coding of photographic signs gives birth to certain resistances from transcending into a wider meaning (Smith & Lefley, 2015). They claimed that photography stands different from others because of its ability to be treated as evidence.
In Camera Lucida Roland Barthes highlighted that photographs cannot be reduced to a language because they are manifestations of reality. This is contradictory to the conventional idea of a sign, as according to the definition a sign does not hold anything realistic (Sonesson, 2015). The sign is based on representation, interpretation and procession. According to Barthes photographs can be read in both ways. In one hand it is a representation of social meaning, and on the other hand, it might convey a personal auteuristic message. Symbols, indices and icons are three types of signs as Pierce suggested in his triadic theory (Nöth, 2015). The indexical sign is more associated with photographs. The indexical sign refers to a casual-link between the meaning it has expressed and the object that is expressing it. The meaning generation through a photograph is quite different from a drawing or painting, here the exposure to light is more important than the creator’s intention. Photography expresses an “indexicality” that breaks photography from other established signifying system. There are truthfulness and naturalness associated with a photograph.
There are two trends of photography history, one is called formalist, and the other is anti-formalist. The cultural study during the twentieth century greatly influenced photography history. The cultural study extended its area of study to popular culture and photography. In the era of modernism, the photography worked under the genre of formalism which was challenged during the postmodern era. The critics of the postmodern era, believe that other forms and media get incorporated in the photographic medium (Gaggi, 2015).
The modernists only highlighted the purity of the photographic medium as a lens-based language where the post modernists believed that that photography has always been a “hybrid medium” (Dawsey et al., 2016). Naturally, the meaning generation also differs. The first group stressed on the photographic truth while the other believed that the contemporary context matters a lot in the meaning production. It can easily be interpreted if one considers the theory of late capitalism. It supports that the world is not a source of truth anymore. One can refer to Michelangelo Antonioni’s Blow Up, that questions the power of evidence and truth of a photograph. Levine’s photograph also supports the idea of constructed reality that can also be referred as constructed reality or hyper-reality.
On the other hand, the modernists described photography as a self-conscious artistic tradition. The technological advancements related to the photographic advancements were hugely appreciated by the modernist critics. The Ermanox or the Leica cameras took significant part is the process. In the modernist period, the realistic expression of photography attracted the Avant-garde visual artists greatly. They even claimed that photography is anti-aesthetic and artless which is a great quality.
Formalism is most associated with the first kind of avant-garde which mainly highlights the formal properties of photography. This is apparent that this formalist experience separates any artistic experience associated with contemporary society, life and history. The modernist claimed photography to be an autonomous medium and belongs to a completely separate space. Postmodernists said photography is associated with all institutions and disciplines. As Batchen referred photography is nothing but a misleading fiction with no identity of its own (Elkins, 2013).
The formalist approach is more focused on searching the nature of the photography and the anti-formalists fight to establish its dependent nature which is without any definite identity. The second group believes that photography resides in a world that is ever-changing. The ideological construction of photographic history has always been open to oppositions. The photography history is still an underexplored area of study. Many areas are significantly neglected like its recreational power and the application in communication industries. The consumerism and social stereotyping have been worsening the situation. Modernism and postmodernism inform the photographic practice differently, but this opposition makes the medium so interesting.
This visual representation of architectural imagery consists of various structure somehow gives a feeling of a geometric puzzle. In this photography the pattern is the most visible aspect, it almost seems like the space within the photographic world has been replaced by the pattern. The photograph is carefully constructed to give two dimensions. The depth is strategically designed to evoke a feeling of denial. The photographer exposed the negatives heavily that produces a certain relationship between the light and dark. Space is mostly covered by light greys, and the straight black lines are only at the edges. It can be mentioned that she used a long focal length and took the shot from a longer distance than the normal. She carefully minimizes the conventional perspectives and gives the spectator a feeling that the perspective is originated from an infinite distance (Gibson, 2016). The staircase is a significant example of abstract architectural photographs. The perspective in this photograph is quite unconventional. She has chosen a space where the lines are repetitive and which develops the dominating pattern. The triangles and the lines are stretched towards to different dimensions. It can remind spectators of the Escher paintings that create the illusion of three-dimensionality. Modotti chose framed and composed the three-dimensional space such a way that it appears two-dimensional. She did this by minimizing the contrast between the distances.
Modotti was intrigued with the capacity of the camera and wanted to explore the many artistic possibilities going beyond the physical limitations of the device. She was keen on using different camera angles. In her earlier photographs, she experimented with the abstract properties of her photographic subjects with the help of technical experiments. The interior shot of staircase is one of those. She experimented with the gradations as well. In Staircase, the viewers can experience that she eliminated the spiral effect of the stairs and made it look like a flat surface. Her tool was a high point of view to materialize this.
If one conducts in-depth research, this photograph will appear more than the technical experimentation. The photograph can be termed as a socially engaged image and reflects Modotti’s political beliefs. On the surface level, this is just a photograph of patina and wood, but the deeper level expresses its architectural abstraction. She belonged to a specific era of Mexico’s intellectual and artistic climate.
This photograph demonstrates the process of un-coding the message. Going beyond capturing the realistic reflection of an ordinary staircase the artist highlighted the aesthetic strength of the camera. Even within the formalist approach, the photograph altered the conventional method of just capturing the realistic truth. Though she belonged to the twentieth century, this visual expression demonstrates postmodernism more than many contemporary photographs (López Orozco, 2014). The visual analysis tries to explore how a photograph of that time was way ahead of its time. Modotti one of the photographs that extended the borders of photography and smoothened the process of entering into the next era. Staircase can be considered as one of the important steps beyond the photographic limitation of a certain era.
Vivian Maier is a photographer who took more than 150,000 street images (Bannos, 2017). The photos may appear just slices of street life on the surface, but each photograph tells a story and a hidden history. Her photographs celebrated the people from the streets, people on the streets, the streets who were often ignored by the most contemporary artists. She celebrated those ignored subjects, those people make the life so realistic, so alive. These subjects have always been at the peripheral and they are called the etceteras. These etceteras are dominating the photographic space of Vivian Maier’s creation. Long before those social experiments on social media like Humans of America, Vivian brought them to the surface.
The photograph that has been chosen for this discussion has five African American children expressing joy. It is noticeable that her characters are often directly addressing the camera. They are developing a relationship with the photographer and through the camera to the viewers. The image separates itself from the photographer and removes the baggage any average photograph carries. When a photograph goes beyond the artist’s limitation, it becomes a piece of true art and when the artist develops her style, she becomes an auteur. Vivian Maier is no less than the photographer auteur. In this photograph, one can see that five children are excited for some reason and they are expressing their joy. The photographer has captured this moment without any designed composition. The characters are at the canter and capturing most of the space. They are not posing for the camera and the reality is not constructed. The subjects are children and Vivian spend most of her life as a nanny. One can see how successfully the camera captures the innocence, the pure joy. The photograph tells an alternate history to its audience. This has a political connotation, but it is not directly related to the American history of racism. The political statement is inside the photographic form itself. The protest is against the traditional photographic practice where the subject has to be privileged, composed or artistic. The photographer’s voice was also against the practice where the form was just a medium and not everything. It is beyond the camera’s capability. She established the feeling successfully where the photograph becomes a successful art piece where it goes beyond the realistic representation. Her presence was assuring to the children; it is evident the way they responded to this photo and many others. The photograph is a story in itself and demands the viewer’s engagement to interpret it. The downtrodden, distressed, as well as the people of the festival, were given voice in her photographs. It is the humanism that she was most concerned about. She selected the people who are at the edge or out of the social boundaries and the characters who are considered out of the frames. She challenged the conventions and succeeded in her terms.
Reference
Bannos, P. (2017). Vivian Maier: A Photographer’s Life and Afterlife. University of Chicago Press.
Chandler, D. (2017). Semiotics: the basics. Routledge.
Dawsey, J., Lee, P. M., Young, B., Rodenbeck, J., & Antin, D. (2016). The Uses of Photography: Art, Politics, and the Reinvention of a Medium. Univ of California Press.
Elkins, J. (Ed.). (2013). Photography theory (Vol. 2). Routledge.
Gaggi, S. (2015). Modern/postmodern: A study in twentieth-century arts and ideas. University of Pennsylvania Press.
Gibson, M. (2016). Fast Light. Crazyhorse Archive.
Kiefer, B. (2015). Reading the art of the picturebook. Handbook of Research on Teaching Literacy Through the Communicative and Visual Arts, Volume II: A Project of the International Reading Association, 375.
López Orozco, L. (2014). The Revolution, Vanguard Artists and Mural Painting. Third Text, 28(3), 256-268.
Nöth, W. (2015). Three paradigms of iconicity research in language and literature. East Meets West: Iconicity in Language and Literature. Amsterdam: Benjamins, 13-43.
Pearson, C. (2015). The Semiotic Paradigm View of Theoretical Semiotics. In International Handbook of Semiotics(pp. 135-180). Springer Netherlands.
Robins, A. (2014). Peirce and Photography: Art, Semiotics, and Science. The Journal of Speculative Philosophy, 28(1), 1-16.
Smith, P., & Lefley, C. (2015). Rethinking Photography: histories, Theories and education. Routledge.
Sonesson, G. (2015). Semiotics of photography: The state of the art. In International handbook of semiotics (pp. 417-483). Springer Netherlands.
Yan, S., & Ming, F. (2015). Reinterpreting some key concepts in Barthes’ theory. Journal of Media and Communication Studies, 7(3), 59.
Essay Writing Service Features
Our Experience
No matter how complex your assignment is, we can find the right professional for your specific task. Contact Essay is an essay writing company that hires only the smartest minds to help you with your projects. Our expertise allows us to provide students with high-quality academic writing, editing & proofreading services.
Free Features
Free revision policy
$10Free bibliography & reference
$8Free title page
$8Free formatting
$8How Our Essay Writing Service Works
First, you will need to complete an order form. It's not difficult but, in case there is anything you find not to be clear, you may always call us so that we can guide you through it. On the order form, you will need to include some basic information concerning your order: subject, topic, number of pages, etc. We also encourage our clients to upload any relevant information or sources that will help.
Complete the order form
Once we have all the information and instructions that we need, we select the most suitable writer for your assignment. While everything seems to be clear, the writer, who has complete knowledge of the subject, may need clarification from you. It is at that point that you would receive a call or email from us.
Writer’s assignment
As soon as the writer has finished, it will be delivered both to the website and to your email address so that you will not miss it. If your deadline is close at hand, we will place a call to you to make sure that you receive the paper on time.
Completing the order and download