Before reading all about my opinions (I know how much you want to), I want you to take five minutes and think about what you see in the above image. Think about how you interpret the situation. I can guarantee that your thoughts will be different to the person sitting next to you (if it’s your dog, show him the picture and get back to me).
At first glance, this image shows a bunch of kid’s standing around observing two soldiers relaxing on the ground. For many, this is where the understanding and meaning might end and that’s okay! But there are hundreds and thousands of interpretations and understandings of media, this image included. Just take a look at this picture here, believe it or not, there’s actually a young AND old woman in the picture.
Let’s delve a bit deeper into this theory and look at the history of experimental audience research and how this affects how we thus perceive media. Many experiments such as the Bobo doll experiment (1961) aimed to show us that media is the direct cause for the way people act. This is also called causality (Middlemost 2020). There was a tendency to blame media for the worst that occurs in society, which, following the Columbine High School massacre on April 20th,1999, we now know is definitely not the case. Following this clear-cut idea, one may also assume that audiences may look at an image and take one meaning from it. This somewhat outdated theory can be proven otherwise when we begin to look at linear models of communication and why things aren’t always black and white.
Looking at our main image it is possible to draw one conclusion. We might also see kid’s in a war-town country observing the men that are protecting them. We may see a bunch of aspiring young soldiers looking on to their heroes or we might see three children in a foreign country not knowing who these strange men in uniforms are. It is possible to read this image in plenty of ways and unlike Aristotle’s idea of a linear communication model (Middlemost, 2020) which states that there is a one-way, unproblematic flow of information from one receiver to another, we may take the opposite approach of Stuart Hall. While Aristotle’s work is classified as “the most influential during the last 2,300 years” (Bodhi, an interdisciplinary Journal, 2008, p 272), Hall’s-
-encoding/decoding model (Middlemost, 2020) supports the idea that there is never a clear-cut way of looking at things and there is always going to be ‘noise’ or a problem that interrupts this one-way flow. This noise may come in the form of a lack of knowledge regarding war or soldiers, a lack of understanding why the children are watching them or something as simple as a differing of opinion or interpretation. Therefore we must assume that when perceiving and interpreting images (encoding) there is always a creation process, a medium that is affected by noise before reaching the decoder.
Semiotics also play a large role in the representation and interpretation of images. Semiotics is the science of signs and their meanings or what is evoked in the mind of the receiver (Middlemost, 2020). Charles Pierce is largely known as the ‘godfather’ of semiotics, a large part of his theory being our ability to perceive images. Take the uniforms of the soldiers. This is clearly a sign of war or order. This correlation was completely by chance but it is a known fact and can therefore affect how people see the image and what they take away from it. If the soldiers were dressed normally we would have completely different interpretations of this picture.
When discussing the nation-wide audience, we must give credit to the fact that there is not a linear unproblematic flow of communication and there is always different interpretations and meanings to what we see! Now go and google some more image illusions, hint hint: they’ll keep you entertained during isolation!
All images and dates hyperlinked
Adhikary, N, 2008, ‘The Sadharanikaran Model and Aristotle’s Model of Communication: A Comparative Study’, Nepal Journals Online, vol.2 , no. 1, p./pp 272
Middlemost R, 2020, ‘Representations and Interpretations’, Lecture Slides, BCM110, University of Wollongong
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