Seeing A Picture To Understand The Purpose
A picture is visual material that captures a life time moment. However, images can capture more than that, it can capture a message, purpose, or a meaning. Looking at a picture is different than seeing a picture. Looking at an image means to look for a reason or a purpose. Similarly, seeing is to simply see the image, but not dig for a purpose. It’s to see what the eyes see and that is all. “A physiological process involving light, and the brain”.
When looking at an image carefully and in detail, there is a connotative meaning to it. “Connotative meanings are the cultural or emotional associations that an image suggests”. In contrary, seeing an image is followed by denotation meaning. Denotation is the literal meaning of what you see, in other words, not dissecting the picture. One valuable form of knowing the meaning of a photograph is by syntagmatic and paradigmatic analysis. Syntagmatic is the surface level as paradigmatic is the deeper level. Next, will be discussed the surface and the deeper level of two images.
To begin, image one has been taken in the late 30s, there are blacks and whites formed in a single line carrying bags and buckets, and a large sign that reads; “There is no way like the American Way. ” If this photograph is seen at the surface level, then we can agree that it is a couple of individuals waiting in line as if they were going to pick something up. The picture doesn’t really mean much, but the situation changes when we look at the image at a deeper level. Let’s look at the paradigmatic analysis, what does it suggest by figurative meanings? In the picture, there is a race mixture, whites and blacks, they are formed in a single line with baskets and bags. They look worrisome and about to pick something up. They are wearing coats and hats, this is an indication that it might be winter season. Above the people in line, there is a picture of an American family and a phrase that reads; “World’s Highest Standard of Living.” The American family makes it seem racist, especially since there is an additional sign that says, “There’s no way like the American Way.” In the photograph, the women look fancy and well-dressed –– even the dog looks sophisticated. This is a picture in the late 1930s which is safe to say, racism was in full effect. According to Blacks and the Great Depression, Sustar suggests, “The Great Depression of the 1930s was catastrophic for all workers. But as usual, Blacks suffered worse, pushed out of unskilled jobs previously scorned by whites before the depression”. Racism was legal, this picture demonstrates how humiliating white Americans were by improperly displaying signs like such.
In like manor, let’s see what image two shows us. A photograph of a white sheriff staring down at two black males who are deceased on the ground. The surrounding is dark and there are two vehicles parked next to them. Syntagmatically, this shows simply what is in the picture, a murder. At a glance, the eyes don’t see much, but look carefully and more develops. A white man who is staring at a couple of black men he murdered. According to the Article, Florida Sheriff Shoots Two Black Defendants After Supreme Court Overturns Convictions, the man standing in front of the bodies was a Sherriff. The Sherriff looks guilty and his body language seems tense. Maybe he even felt regret. Although racism was a big deal in that time, the officer is showing some form of concern. He does not look entirely satisfied with the choice he made. The location looks lonely and it is dark. We now know the Sherriff is in the middle of nowhere and he is pondering on what he just did. Why is he in the middle of nowhere? Could he be ashamed? Could this have been a murder caused by racism? In his article, Florida Sherriff Shoots Two Black Defendants After Supreme Court Overturns Convictions, King states, “The bottom line is that it's really easy for juries to accept that whites had to defend themselves against persons of color”. King is right, due to the racisms, it was easier to kill innocent blacks, that’s how they could have gotten rid of them. Based on the African American Wrongful Convictions, Grimsley suggests, “Between the 1870’s and 1960’s, a significant number of black defendant/ white victim allegations never made it to trial. The Tuskegee Institute Archive estimates approximately 3, 500 lynching deaths of blacks. How many of the lynched were actually innocent will forever be a mystery”. A mystery is correct, so many murders due to the color of skin, not even the decency to hear out the truth. Evil and unfairness is also part of this illustration.
To summarize, pictures can tell more than what is obviously shown. Seeing is not the same as looking. One must use paradigmatic analysis to really understand what the message of the image is. Every picture has a purpose, but if you use syntagmatic analysis, you will only see the surface level of the picture. One must look at the deeper level which is paradigmatic level. The two photographs convey racism. Image one manifests the times of when racism was legal and how they used universal signs and images to get their point across. Image two shows us how bad things happened to those who didn’t deserve it, but how it worked in that era based on color. It illustrates cold murder, but at the same time it looks like the man who committed the crime seemed apprehensive. Looking further into an image can raise so many questions that it will lead to the purpose of a photograph.
There are many details that help get to the conclusion and almost like a detective, you will get to the purpose of it. Both images have similarities, as they both show unfairness to African Americans. According to Racism in 1930s America, “1930s life for black people was difficult due to racism. Racial discrimination was not illegal in 1930s America, therefore racism was still rampant at the time. Whites and blacks were segregated in 1930s America and blacks were considered as 2nd class citizens”. Again, images can capture more than the moment, it can capture a message, purpose, or a meaning.
