Image Assignment!

Oh man this assignment has proven to be a test of my patience in the ending stretch, as yesterday night I decided to change nearly all of my images (yea great idea i know) and this morning my email would not let me send the files....

Anyway, for my leaflet I decided to talk about the dangers of tanning beds with my audience as young adult women, or if I have to be more specific either sorority girls or girls in high school. I attempted to use the three types of signs, which I hopehelped my message rather than detract from it. First of all, the easiest is the icon, which in the case of my leaflet could be the picture of the tanning bed, the woman lying in it, the microwave oven, or the people with cancer, as all our images that resemble what they are trying to convey. Next, the symbol I used was a speech bubble over the woman in the oven. The speech bubble symbolizes that someone is speaking within an image, however the bubble itself does not have a particular relation to the action of speaking, therefore it is a symbol. Finally, the index I used was a warning sign (the yellow triangular traffic sign with the black exclamation point on it). I believe that it is an index as it has a relationship between the exclamation point and the message which is to watch out.

As for my punctum assignment, I searched through the Robert Frank images several times. I really liked the one of the man laying on the ground near the tree (RF39). When I looked at the picture more closely I was drawn to his tattoo (a woman drawn on his arm). I started to create this narrative of his experiences based around the tattoo, so i made it the punctum. Therefore I colored the tattoo to help draw it out of the picture. I also blurred the grass around him to help his body stand out, the reason I did this was mainly because there was such a great depth of field and personally I was also caught looking at how clear Frank's focus was (i was in photo for too long I now see). Anyway I believe that this man (who is shirtless, and not looking particularly clean, I might add) is down on his luck, and the tattoo is a symbol of something he once had and is now holding onto for hope. This woman could be a former love, who he has lost. She represents the youth in this man, who now looks to the tattoo as something to strive for once again. Taking this picture while he is sleeping is allowing the audience to see him at his most vulnerable, and I think this woman who he normally may keep under wraps, steals the audience's eye in this photo.