Out of the seven images that I took for this assignment, I chose to upload this image for a number of reasons.

Firstly, it was part of a series of images I took with a “Physical Hashtag”, which I used to both comment on the tropes of social media and to watermark the image. This also covers the face of the model, meaning that the clothes are no longer being associated with a conventionally handsome face.

Secondly, I feel like the editing I did to the photo worked well to subvert the intention of the original image. I increased the contrast, made the picture a lot more grainy and lowered the warmth in order to give it a more uncomfortable and unique feel.

I also like the framing of it, as it is both simple but also quite busy. The boarder across the top and left sides of the photo pushes the attention towards the 3 main subjects; the man, the price and the Physical Hashtag. Furthermore, the framing keeps the price in focus but almost entirely cuts out the product. This cancels out the meaning of the image as instead of showing the product and price, it is showing the price with little context for what you would be paying for. 

 

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I chose this photo to talk about because of how much the viewer has to infer about its context, due to its tight cropping.

The image itself is of an elderly man or woman’s mouth, jaw and nose. They are smiling but without seeing the rest of the face, it is hard to tell if this smile is genuine. The lines coming down from the corners of their mouth reminds me of a ventriloquist dummy’s mouth, as the lines look similar to the cuts used to move the jaw on such puppets.

This image sums up the idea of appropriation for me. Although the physical image is the same, the context of the original is lost. Therefore, without knowing where the image was taken from and what it it was a part of, it is either devoid of all meaning or finds a new and/or projected meaning.

Personally, I like to speculate that this was originally an advertisement for a holiday website. The subject, a man of 65, would be smiling while looking at his wife and standing in front of a picturesque beach.