Roland
Barthes, 1915 – 1980, was a French literary theorist, writer, philosopher and
academic. His main writing pieces were written during the period of 1950 –
1960.
The main
pieces of work that we focused on during today’s lecture were The Photographic
Message, 1961, and The Rhetoric of the image, 1964. He proposed a way of ‘reading’
photographs based on a theory of semiotics.
What is semiotics?
· Semiotics is understanding how
language
· ‘signs’ can be words, pictures, or
symbols
· analysing meanings by looking at the
signs.
Semiotics
reveal the hidden nature of verbal and visual communication.
Key
theorists that used semiotics were Charles S. Peirce, 1839 – 1914, Ferdinand de
Saussure, 1857 – 1913, and Roland Barthes.
Aspects of
study in semiotics
1. the sign itself (word or image)
2. the codes or systems into which
signs are organised (language)
3. the culture within these codes and
signs operate
Peirce’s
icon, index, symbol:
Icon is the
physical resemblance, visual. Index is the visual and audible, sensory feature e.g.
smoke = index of fire. Symbol signifies the force of convention.
Saussure’s
signifier and signified. ‘dyadic or two-part model of the sign
Eamples:
an ‘OPEN’
sign
Signifier –
the word open
Signified
concept – the shop is open for business.
‘Cat’
Signifier –
the word cat
Signified –
a four-legged, furry animal, usually kept as a pet.
The
signifier doesn’t relate to a single individual. If the relation between the
signifier and the signified is only defined by convention, then meaning or
significance means socially nd historically constructed.
Barthes
adapts the linguistic science of semiotics and uses it to interrogate culture. He
makes the distinction between ‘messages’ and ‘codes’
The message
is a singular unit of discourse (picture or writing) and the code is the
abstraction created by the reader – reconstructed from the material provided by
the message.
He argues that
the distinction messages and codes is problematic when we deal with a
photograph. The ‘reality effect’ of photographs e.g. “realism” makes appear “natural”
rather than socially and historically constructed.
There are
other messages without codes – drawings, paintings, cinema and theatre.
Analogues* of reality. (* comparable, similar, related)
Photographs
seem to carry a single message – denotated.
Due to the ‘reality
effect’ we are in danger of not realising the code of an image. Photographs
appear to be objective and factual.
Photography
paradox is without code – denotation and with code – connotation.
Denotation
is literally depicted elements in the photograph and the connotation suggested
by the depiction to the viewer: extra association by knowledge or culture.
Forms of
connotation:
1. perceptive connotation – seeing and
understanding (first look)
2. cognitive connotation – factual elements
3. ideological and ethnical connotation
– elements or strongest and most complex messages
 |
Walker Evans
A Graveyard and Steel Mill in Bethlehem, PennsylvaniaNovember, 1935 |
Denotate: houses, cross, grave yard,
power lines, industrial
Connotation: life then work then
death.
Photographic
connotation’s six forms:
1. pose
2. objects
3. aestheticism
4. trick effects
5. syntax
6. ‘photogenia’
The
Rhetoric of the Image
Hidden messages
– adverts – three messages.
