22/04/2013

Roland Barthes - 'Image Music Text'


Why is text so important to the image? Does it give us added information that we don’t get just from the image? Does it Show things that we cannot see? Or does it distract us from working out the image ourselves?

In Barthes ‘Image,Music Text’, he tells us that...

“Naturally, even from the perspective of a purely immanent analysis, the structure of the photograph is not an isolated structure; it is in communication with at least one other structure, namelt the text – title, caption or article.” Page 16

Here he is mainly talking about press photography or work in a newspaper but this also responds to artistic photography.   

He then goes on to talk about ‘connotation procedures’ which is the imposition of second meaning in the photographic message. It is realised that there are different levels of production of the photograph, for example, choice, different treatment, framing layout. 
He then talks about the connection between ‘Text and image.’
This speaks about how text is designed to ‘quicken’ our understanding of the image, the words help the image.

Barthes, R., & Heath, S. (1977). Image, music, text. New York, Hill and Wang. P 15, 16, 20, 25

  

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