Images as a Means of Communication
Interpreting Images
“To be interpellated by an image, then, is to know that the image is meant for me to understand, even if i feel that my understanding is unique or goes against the grain of a meaning that seems to be intended” (50). As humans, we have the ability to view and interpret each image that we see in our own unique way. This “interpellated” concept can apply on a large serious scale or a small everyday scale. For example, when you were younger in elementary school, how many of you had a teacher who would hold up an inanimate object and you immediately knew to stop talking, line up, clean up etc. For me, my all my elementary school teacher had to do was put her finger over her lips and hold up a red stop sign and we automatically knew that we were being too loud. This is a small example of a shared understanding that my elementary class had associated with a certain image. However, as the images grow more complex and our cognition develops, each person is not going to interpret each image the same. We all create different meanings and understandings about images. Whether we develop those meanings on the spot or if we have pulled from past experiences and those experiences have influenced or deterred us from connecting with an image.
For example, when I look at an American flag I immediately connect it with our soldiers and our freedom. While I think of the flag as my unending gratitude and soldiers in camouflage, a soldier may have a completely different view of the flag. When he looks at the flag, he probably immediately recalls different war zones he was apart of, or friends he helped heal from battle wounds, or long cold hungry nights, or countless nights away from his friends and family. Just by this simple image of the flag, very different meanings were recalled and correlated with.
It is interesting how closely advertisers pay attention to our connections with images and videos. It is in the advertisers best interest to make us as viewers feel apart of their add. If the advertisement we see doesn’t connect with us in any way, or totally bypass our interests, we aren’t as likely to keep watching. Below is the Olay commercial advertising cream to make our face look younger and more regenerated. Whether our skin is actually old and worn out, no girl likes wrinkles and we love clear smooth skin. Olay goes through the commercial by first connecting with us by explaining how most women speak of their skin. They then go through the steps you need to take to reverse your old baggy skin by using their product. Every woman wants to look and feel beautiful and this Olay commercial appeals to our senses by first calling out our concerns and then go on to describing to us how this new Olay cream can fix all our problems. The power of images here in this ad add credibility and insurance of the product to us as viewers.
Discussion Questions:
1. How often are meanings and commands sent to you through images rather than words?
2. Do you think the power of these images are more or less powerful than the power of words?
What Does Tay Have To Say 