The Rhetoric Of Images - Student Task

Andy Warhol.

Andy Warhol is famous for taking images from popular culture and turning them into his art. for example the above image for Campbell's soup, has all the traditional associations of the soup brand, but has captured it in a painting. the fact that the colours of the soup tin have been changed does not distract from  the reputation the branded can holds, even though is a reproduction and not the real thing, therefore it shouldn't hold the same values as the original. it shows how associations in popular culture can be instantly made to objects, even if not necessarily true. this image instantly gives the viewer an association to a long standing product with a good reputation, purely by reproducing its image, which drives the viewer to put those associations to the painting itself purely for being centered around this product. Warhol was very clever with associating his work with icons, such as the coca cola bottles and  screen prints of Marilyn Monroe, and i think that helped his success. He used the fact that people could instantly associate something good with iconic figures and therefore he used those associations for his own success. everybody looks at an image of Marilyn Monroe and sees a beautiful film star who everyone

adores, so to use her image in your work would instantly create a sense of admiration and awe due to that association, even if the work isn't necessarily that fantastic

i took an image to play around with this idea, and used the same conventions as Warhol, i took a picture of a popular drink and changed the colours about. now i have created a piece of personal work from that product and i have put any associations that came with the image of the can into my image. 

I look at this image and i see one of my favourite soft drinks, i know ill always enjoy it and as its cheap I'll always be able to afford it. just like how Warhol uses coca cola in his images, he knows people the world over from all backgrounds find coke accessible and enjoy it therefor his work is accessible to everyone too.

“What's great about this country is that America started the tradition where the richest consumers buy essentially the same things as the poorest. You can be watching TV and see Coca-Cola, and you know that the President drinks Coca-Cola, Liz Taylor drinks Coca-Cola, and just think, you can drink Coca-Cola, too. A Coke is a Coke and no amount of money can get you a better coke than the one the bum on the corner is drinking. All the cokes are the same and all the cokes are good. Liz Taylor knows it, the President knows it, the bum knows it, and you know it.” – www.Tate.org.uk

Documentary Student Task - Research and compare historical and contemporary documentary photography

example of historical documentary image -

'Woman with injured finger being administered first aid in the infirmary of the Hood Rubber Co: Photo by Lewis hine'

example of contemporary documentary image - 

Sama Ashaibi. 

documentary photography has always documented wars, the top image by Lewis Hine was taken during the American civil war, and documents a woman having her finger treated. the image itself isn't particularly interesting, it literally documents something that was happening at the time. the shot contains a lot of detail and shows the viewer where the treatment is taking place and generally allows you to see whats happening without much description. On the other hand, Sama Ashaibis image of a woman with her eye missing documents war injuries in a different way . the image itself is more artistically shot, focusing the viewer on the injured eye to create more drama, its as if the image intends to shock you by making the wound so prominent. the fact that the woman in the picture is actually the photographer with make up on, to represent the real wounds of other women also shows how documentary has changed, you only need to represent something now to document it. Sama documents how women suffer in the background as a result of war, and i think the focus in the wounds being healed  

shows that they are having to live through these injuries and Carry the effects of war with them forever as scars. contemporary documentary is aimed to shock people more and more, as the original images such as the civil war images seem to be mundane in today's society. It's as if the war photography is seen more as entertainment, than an actual simple document of of something that has happened.