ITAP- Image & Text

 Image and text can transform the opinions of the person viewing them. A photograph accompanied by a few lines of text can have such a substantial impact that it’s no wonder why our eyes are overcome when stepping out the front door with images with ridiculous by lines. Like a ridiculous advert by apple of a standard top down image of an iPhone with the by-line “ if you don’t have an iPhone, you don’t have an iPhone”, feeding in to the corporate snake that makes us want to consume and spend money on things we don’t need, just for the effect or popularity significance it provides.

  A photographer which I am fond of is Irving Penn, an American photographer who sadly died in 2009 at the age of 92. He specialised in portrait photography, which has been done countless times, but he captures something in the image. He would often ask the person in frame to pose and wait until the asked him to take it before snapping, to capture a little movement in the subject. His image were often high contrast black & white, often the perfect medium for portrait photography. 

 The first principle of the lecture highlighted image with context. A reason why I chose to include Irving Penn within my blog, all of his images, very much so like a lot of portrait photography is about the eyes. The context of the image is to entice the viewer into thinking what the subject could be feeling, or experiencing at that moment of time, often communicated through the eyes.

  Image and text was another principle which was highlighted din the lecture. One of the most powerful resources we have as designers is to add text to a photograph, you’re in affect telling the viewer what to feel about the image they are seeing. If you had an image of a horizon with a descending sunset, the viewer could think of numerous things or evoke varying emotions unique to that particular person, maybe memories, relaxation or anything.

  Brand the image by slapping holiday across the bottom and the image takes a whole new persona, it is now an advert.  You might now feel jealous your stuck in a dreary wet country when you could be sitting in front of that warm sunset, time to get the wallet out?