Polysemy Images

For this part of the assignment, I chose three random images. Some people were aiming to use certain images in order to sway people into a certain way of thinking. This however wasn’t my intention. As you can see for yourself the three images have no relation to one another. From a first glance they are hard to combine into some sort of storyboard. It even takes me a while to come up with a few suggestions of my own. This task is all a matter of life experience. What people know to be a certain way of thinking or their perceptions of the world are a main influence when merging the images together.

My first image is that of a butterfly. That’s the basic analysis of the image. If you were to study the photograph for longer, then you would see a picture emerging. A black and orange butterfly, perched on a lilac flower, perhaps in a field due to the greenery in the background, would become apparent. If I were to go on like this I would finally end up with an in-depth overview of this image. From using my own observations shape, colour, and objects all become a key feature in determining some sort of meaning held within an image.

The picture of two shadows on the ground is pretty simplistic. When studying this you have to realize that one is a man and the other a woman. They are waving, standing linked together, with they’re bodies elongated on to the ground. You have to think about the bigger picture. In order for a shadow to be reflected on to the concrete ground there must be a vast amount if sunlight. The strong silhouette reinforces this and so you could assume it to be in a warmer season. Although there is not a lot to this image you can break it down quite a lot. Again this is to do with what people know.

Both of the previous images can relate to outdoors and warmer climates. Since butterflies have connotations of nice, warm summer days and shadows on the ground come from the use of sunlight then this connection can be made. I wonder if this is picked up on when I ask people to produce a story?

The third and final image is one that can also be connected to the outdoors what with the blue sky in the background. This image even though is still outdoors; it is different to the other two. This picture has been taking from looking upwards and so catches the guttering of buildings and the blue sky. The clock is attached high up on a building, usually suggesting the location must be that of a busy area. The other two pictures are aimed at the ground. The clock specifies 11:55 and so might be used when building up a picture.

Once I had gathered a few people who were willing to study my images I handed them around one person at a time, given in a random order each time. This would hopefully help them determine their own thought out story from start to finish and not influence them in anyway. I realized from my own observations certain things that viewers would find more apparent and so the responses may not be as varied as some others. I thought the outdoor connection would link the images all together.

Initial response:

Charlotte Matthew, 19, Design Student, Scottish

“As a couple were walking down their street the woman was distracted by a fluttering butterfly. As she watched it fly by, it landed on the hand of the hanging clock. It was then that she realized they were late for their appointment at 12 o’clock.”

I found this to be very interesting as charlotte singled out the woman specifically. This may be because she is a female herself and can relate more to how she would be thinking. Also she didn’t use the time specifically, she related to it.

Jonathan Macdonald, 19, Design Student, Scottish

“As I was walking on one sunny morning through my village I noticed a beautiful butterfly, flutter past my friend.”

From my own observations I picked up on the weather. Jonathan is the only one so far to pick up on this, which is interesting. Also descriptive movement of the butterfly has been mentioned several times and so must help people imagine the way they are describing the picture.

Lin ma, 20, Design Student,

Clock: Old. Silent.

Butterfly: Happy. Natural

Boy and Girl: Happy. Blessed

“ A boy and a girl fall in love, because of some reason they have to be separated. A year has passed… one day, at 11:55 they meet and they are so happy. They still love each other. They are sitting on the lawn. They see the butterfly flying happily, they are also happy.”

This was the first one to specify the actual time shown on the clock. What I liked about lin’s story was that she recognized the connection between the man and woman and so based it on that. She built up a story of how the simple things can make you happy. Also she showed me her thought process of how she came about her story, which no other person had done.

Charles Stewart, 20, Design Student, Scottish

“At 11:55 two people’s shadows appear on a butterfly’s wings.”

Again the specific time was used but in a different context to before. The idea of the image on the wings of the butterfly is more of an abstract meaning compared to other responses.

Calum MacBain, 19, Design Student, Scottish

“As we stood watching the butterflies in flight it was almost as if time was frozen, I’ll remember that time forever, 11:55. “

This was my favorite response, the simplistic observation revealed little about what all three pictures contained but managed to describe to others that there was more than one person, the butterflies were the main attraction and the significant time that all this was happening around. The use of the time plays a major part in this description compared to others.

Sophie Roberts, 19, Architect, English

“ Last summer my flat mate and I took a trip to the zoo, whilst we were there we visited the butterfly house. They were beautiful, bright, fragile creatures; Louise’s favourite of the day. She was so captured by the way they flew freely around that the time just went and before we knew it, it was lunch time already”

This analysis of the photographs was quite interesting. Sophie used herself rather than talk about someone else, suggesting that the story being told could actually have happened. The way in which she describes the movement of the butterflies is also similar to others and wants the reader to understand how she saw the butterfly through her eyes.

Charlotte Torck, 20, Architect, French

“I am flying through this city on a bright summers day when I notice the shadows of two friends enjoying the last 5 minutes of quietness before the madness of lunch time.”

Again just like the one before she chooses to use herself as the basis for the story. As charlotte does travel a lot the idea of this happening is believable. The simple idea of appreciating the quiet surroundings offers the reader time to think about this for them selves.

From doing this experiment I then added a fourth image to the equation to see how this would affect the results and whether or not this would expand on the story that was already in place or create a new one altogether. Again asking people to devise a story from what they saw I gave them another random picture, this time of a bike. From the selective few I asked some had already looked at the pictures before and others not.

Sophie Roberts, 19 Architecture Student, English

“What does summer mean to you? To me I think of bike rides, sunshine, walks on the beach, sitting in the wonderful flowered gardens with all their creatures’ great and small. Oh how I long for summer to come.”

Again the way in which Sophie has approached this exercise is very different to how the others have imagined it. Maybe this has something to do with her creative nature or maybe the images bring back memories of her own that mean something to her.

Hayley Thompson, 16, Student, Scottish

“ As the clock struck twelve, the travelling lovers could see the outline of a butterfly as it invaded their moving shadows”

I was quite impressed what with this response coming from the youngest person I asked, though this view is very stereotypical because of the way she has described the two people as being in love, also shows a slight degree of naivety. Being said though Hayley uses the butterfly in a negative way, implying that it’s beauty is being over shadowed because it’s invading the couple’s space.

Georgina Thompson, 50, Supervisor assistant, Scottish

“The young couple set off to cycle on their bicycles to explore the local country side and were taken aback by its breathtaking beauty. All the more enchanting because of the stunning butterflies.”

I think with her being slightly older she automatically pictured a young couple exploring rather than people her age. This may be easier for her to picture, as life does seem a lot simpler and more exciting when young. The appreciation about the use of the countryside must have a lot to do with her own enjoyment, what with the word “enchanting” used suggesting a separate world.

Danielle Mullane, 20, Architect, Irish

“ I looked up at a clock and noticed, with great satisfaction, that it wasn’t even midday yet. It was nice having woken up early and spent the morning strolling in the sunshine, birds singing and butterflies fluttering around us as we joked with each other and took silly photographs, I felt full of energy and much happiness than if I’d decided to sleep in late on this glorious Sunday.”

Most people, old and young have made it clear through their own stories that they have a strong appreciation of the outside world. This also applies to Danielle. The way in which she develops this idea into taking silly photographs suggests this would be an ideal day for her to spend doing with a loved one.

This time to try and achieve a greater outcome I then added the word to the equation. At first I thought about making the connection to the outdoors what with this theme being apparent in all photos but then I thought about introducing the word “separated”. By doing so I would hope that people would make the connection between things not being together i.e the people being divorced. This can also adapt and interpreted to the different images if done wisely.

Georgina Thompson, 50, Supervisory Assistant, Scottish

“ The young couple were the first to arrive at the meeting point under the town clock and as they waved to friends across the road they caught side of a beautiful butterfly in the field behind.”

The use of the word separated didn’t so much affect the results as I thought it would have, but developed a story where the use of space creates the distance between the couple and friends.

Hayley Thompson, 16, Student, Scottish

“ The butterfly flew in between the space of the separated lovers”

This idea of the lovers being separated was the approach I thought most would take as it comes across the most obvious out of all the images presented. However the separation in this case doesn’t affect the relationship itself, more so the space between the two, causing them to separate for a brief moment.

Danielle Mullane, 20, Architect, Irish

“ This image is separated from the stress and busyness of the working week when you haven’t time to do whatever you like”

Danielle’s response actually refers back to her previous story and explains how the fun day out she describes is actually the contrast to the usual busy week she would have and what she would do to chill out. This was also an unusual take to the exercise, maybe because it’s something that also like Sophie means a lot to her.

Charlotte Torck, 20, Architect, French

“And at lunch time the shadows split as the two friends have to go their separate ways”

Referring back to her previous statements as well she takes her quiet lunchtime scene and relating it to a very common image that happens a lot, when lunch time hour is over.

From using the different ways to affect people’s views or ways of thinking, it’s interesting to see that most people when presented with the same images respond near enough the same way. The ranges of age groups are not so different what with the appreciation of the environment, mainly just being outdoors to most be a great benefit to reap. As they say the simple things in life mean the most.