Lecture 1. Image analysis exercise.

Today we had our first introductory lesson in to Contextual and theoretical studies. We were given the task to take apart two images. Below shows my analysis of the pictures.

The Uncle Sam Range (1876) Advertising image by Schumacher and Ettlinger, New York

The above image is about selling a product in this case the 'Uncle Sam Range'. the advert itself does not fully show the range because it isn't focusing fully on the range itself its selling a lifestyle with it. It is sending a message of 'if you buy this product then you will be more like this class/status' it appears to selling the dream lifestyle to the lower/working class. there are a lot of fine details within this image that add to the scene, it is obvious it is a patriotic image with the vast amount of crude imagery eg, the flooring the clothes they are wearing and the eagle. However there are also more subtle underlying images such as the clock in the back ground that shows the time 1776 to 1886, this symbolises the 100 years of independence that America has achieved.

There is a lot of symbolism used within this image as i mentioned before if you look at the people themselves the man almost looks presidential, a man of power. It seems to be appealing to men, sending a message that if you buy this range as the head of the family it will you buy status. Also if you look at the children in the back of the image they have names of different states on their clothing, this is to almost make those states look young and childish and i don't think its by accident that 'new England' is pictured as a girl just to show that they are lesser.

Also with the use of the african child serving them it illustrates the attitude to African American slaves, and is also illustrated further with the actual world having a sort of cartoonish face with the accentuated nose mouth and eyes it almost looks goofy. Also by having Africa facing the presidential man its like they are asking America for food. There is a large amount of stereotyping with the receipt that the world is holding, saying that those foods come from those countries but America are just too ignorant to know fully.
As for the type used in the image it is a clear western type face, symbolising the wild west and their history. The West helped America as that is where the industrial revolution happened for america and essentially civilised them.

Essentially this image is just 'bigging' up America and making it clear that it is 'The Land of The Free'.

Poster by Savile Lumley (1915)

This poster was designed to guilt trip people into joining the war, on the pretense that you would have nothing to say if your children asked 'what did you do in the great war?'. Historically the poster was made when the numbers dropped for people signing up, when people began to realise that you would die in this war and it wasn't as easy as they made it out to be. This was a form of emotional blackmail. Having said that if you look closely at the image it has a lot of subliminal messaging for example there are a lot of royal references within the pieces, i.e the fleurdali, the soldiers dressing in the queens guard uniform and red roses. this would give the impression that you would be defending the queen and glamorizing the war and soldiers themselves. It makes out that if you signed up that you would be a magnificent soldier that your children can look up to and idolise instead of what you actually would be, cannon fodder. The message with the image also implies that you would be coming back in order to tell these stories. When you look at the type used as well the 'you' underlined directly targets the audience in an accusation and threatening way. Also phrasing the war as 'the great war' glamorises it again making a presumption that you would win, another positive signifier making the war seem good and just. The capitalization makes it appear as a name and the italics some how make it feel more intimate so that the reader would relate more. Also with the use of a flowing type also helps illustrate the people that the poster is trying to communicate to, the wealthy side of middle class because the people in that class would not have a need to fight they would be comfy at home and have quite a lot to lose compared to lower class.