Metaphor and Allegory

In todays lecture we learnt about Metaphors and Allegories and their relation to photography.

Metaphor; figure of speech in which term is transferred to something it does 

not literally apply to.

Allegory; i)Story with a meaning other than the literal one

ii)Description of one thing under image of another

Self Portrait With Two Fried Eggs - Sarah Lucas

One of the photos we looked at was 'Self Portrait With Two Fried Eggs' by Sarah Lucas.

The intention for looking at images such as this was to try and apply these definition to the photos and see if we could get a different or more in depth reading into what they're trying to say.

There are 3 things that strike me when first viewing this photo. One of which is obviously the fried eggs positioned on Lucas' breasts. 'Two fried eggs' is a metaphor used to describe a women that is flat chested so this would be one of the obvious metaphors used.

Another thing is the way she is dressed and positioned. This is all suggestive of her masculine appearance, with her slouching and her legs apart, which is a posture we expect and is stereotypical of men. Lucas is fully aware she possesses a look which some would call masculine so positioning herself like this suggests her rejecting this label. The checkered floor is also another aspect within the frame that stands out. It is simular in looks to that of a chess board etc. This may be suggestive that Lucas sees life as being one big game whereby she is trying to reject the stereotypes that are thrown at her and that she has overcome this and is now able to make a joke out of it.

The tate writes about her confrontational self portraits saying:

"Through them she presents an identity which challenges stereotypical representations of gender and sexuality. Posing simultaneously as tough and abject, macho but female, she creates an image of defiant femininity."

When you look into this image more you can completely see this within it.  At a glance we may completely bypass these ideas when really they are right infront of us.

Definitions: Metaphor and Allegorie Powerpoint - MyCourse

Quote and Image: www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/lucas-self-portrait-with-fried-eggs-p78447/text-summary

Semiotics

“It is…possible to conceive of a science which studies the role of signs as part of social life…We shall call it semiology (from the Greek sèmeîon, ‘sign’).  It would investigate the nature of signs and the laws governing them…Linguistics is only one branch of this general science. …”

Saussure, Course in General Linguistics, 1916

 Semiotics wasn't something that I had come across before, or so I thought when heading into the lecture. But it turned out that without knowing it I was fully aware of the basic ideas that surrounded semiotics. Because of this newly found understanding I was interesting in uncovering in more depth the ideas behind semiotics. the introduction of new and unfamiliar words to use in the understanding of the concept threw me at first as they were hard to get to grips with. Putting the definitions along side an image as an example however seemed to help the concepts sink in. These also help you realise how life itself is constructed around the idea of semiotics, even if we're not always aware of it things are indirectly suggested to us. An example of this is knowing when to cross the road, we are aware from a young age not to walk out infront of moving vehicles and to wait until there is nothing on the roads to cross. I feel that the following quote suggests this idea very well, in that we grow up watching what others do and so we pick up the way in which we are supposed to do things:

“Logic, in its general sense, is…only another  name for semiotic…we observe the  characters of such signs as we know,  and...by a process which I will not object to  naming abstraction, we are led to  statements, eminently fallible, and  therefore in one sense by no means  necessary, as to what must be the  characters of all signs used by scientific  intelligence, that is to say, by an  intelligence capable of learning by  experience.”

Peirce, Collected Papers:Principles of  Philosophy, 1931 

Semiotics is made up of the signifier and the signified;
- the signifier is the material aspest. E.g. any material thing that signifies such as a facial expression or an image.
- the signified is the mental aspect. The concept that the signifier refers to.
These 2 things make up what we see within an image.

Johnny Cash 'Hurt' Official Music Video

We were shown this Johnny Cash video as a way to try and make us understand the complex ideas behind semiotics. I think for me, this visual aspect helped make me remember the ideas around the concept. We were made to watch the video twice, once without the sound and then again with the sound accompanying the video. At first I was slightly sceptical about going about it this way as I didn't think that there would be any difference in the two viewings but after carrying out the exercise I was surprised to see the difference it actually made. Watching the video by itself allows you to look around and pick up every small aspect displayed within the video and build your own conclusion on why it is there however, once the lyrics are added they become very suggestive and you see everything you saw originally in a whole new perspective. The lyrics add the relevance and meaning behind some objects and allow you to notice new things that I bypassed in the first viewing.

Definitions: http://www.uvm.edu/~tstreete/semiotics_and_ads/terminology.html
Quotes: MyCourse Semiotics Powerpoint

E Book show

The E Book show took place at the John Hansard Gallery Central. The show opened on Friday the 1st February and runs for a month. This time scale is substantially longer than what other book shows would run for. This book show is currently the 5th book show following closely behind book shows in Brighton, London and Helsinki.

"Photobookshow is a series

 of exhibitions which focus 

on the hand-made and self-published photobook"

The Photobooks were laid out in along a long table situated down the centre of the gallery space which meant it was a audience friendly environment. The lighting used was simple but effective as a single box of strip lights was positioned over the table to create an air of daily light over the books. 

Pelikan - Gabriele Harhoff & Brutal - Michal Luczak

There were many different Photobooks that caught my eye such as the two above. I found it interesting to see the many ways in which you can put together your own photobook that are both professional and also aesthetically pleasing.

Gregory Reuben Levitt - Locus Delecti/Oradour sur Glane

I found myself asking many questions when looking through the number of photobooks presented on the table. Personally, I found it hard to understand the reasoning behind the way in which the authors had done things even though I found them appealing to the eye. The book above for example is one with a layout i didn't understand but it captured my attention. I wondered why the author had chose to have, when the book was fully opened, 4 photos facing towards the viewer and 4 the were facing the opposite way?

Those were the days when I used to drive around with a horse's head on
-  Espen R Krunkhaug

This book by Espen Krunkhaug was probably one of my favourite books from the exhibition. This is for a couple of reasons;

i feel that the photos within the photobook are ones which the audience can relate to, being a student a lot of the photos were that of what you would see on a night out, they feel 'real'. There is also a simplicity about the way the book is covered and bound. To me it looks less professional that some of the other books I liked but it has a sense of mystery that draws you in. 

a page from
"Those were the days when i used to drive around with a horse's head on"

John Hansard Gallery