“Practices of Looking” dives deep into image representation, photographic truths, ideology, value of inmates, and iconography throughout history and compared to today’s world. Looking, rather than seeing, is more emotional because of the choice a person has to do so or the power they have to influence others by making them look at something. There are many types of imaging technologies like digital, or hand made representations of the world or certain aspects of the world. Representations depend on cultural context because most are social constructions of what the maker understands reality as rather than replicating it exactly. Photographs were historically and are currently used as hard evidence of a moment, but this is commonly a myth that they are always the honest truth. Because they can be manipulated through digital imaging processes they must be taken with a grain of salt. Also, photographic images have both denotative (literal) meanings or connotative (cultural or personal) meanings or both. They have the power to be informational and expressive at the same time. Ideological images represent shared values and beliefs of a group of people and can be used to persuade people into thinking a certain way. Ideologies may seem like denotations, but are really tied to the myths that come with photographic truths. The importance of photos today appear on things like identification cards or mug shots, such as OJ Simpson. The context of these images must be taken into account, especially when they have been manipulated digitally to persuade a further meaning, such as OJ’s mugshot on the cover of Times magazine which racial ideologies appeared. The conventions at which they’re shown like formal elements, or socio-historical context can have persuasive power with gender and race depending on our semiotics, of the interpretation of the meaning we are looking at. Semiotics create signs in our brain that stem from a signifier and what it is signified as, such as the Marlboro Man commercials which connect masculinity to smoking. These images contain value in different ways: monetary, social, political, authenticity, uniqueness, or even the way it is displayed. Icons are symbolic meanings to many people, such as the mother and child motif throughout history. Depending on the nature of what is shown in the image, it can be valued in different ways. Icons can be replicated or updated through changing the meaning of how it is seen by the masses. Images overall have the power to interpret our representations of icons, ideologies, and cultural experiences to persuade others to interpret it for themselves.
Sign
The magazine cover of Oprah magazine is usually an image of her posing happily with many words surrounding that give catchy glimpses of what is to be read inside. The one I am looking at now is completely different. It is a full page portrait of Breonna Taylor. She is the “signifier.” What she “signifies” is her death by racism. Put together, she is a sign of socio-cultural injustice because she was killed just because of the color of her skin.
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