"Meaning is distorted when a word or sentence is, as we say, taken out of context; when a reader or listener is deprived of what was said before, and after. But there is no such thing as a photograph taken out of context, for a photograph does not require one." (Page 73 of Amusing Ourselves to Death)
Since this book was written before I was born, I cannot express whether or not this statement once held true. I can say that it no longer holds true in this day and age. Photographs are an especially arguable form of communication.
Since our culture has been "dumbed down" by television, there are many times when people rely simply on a picture to convey a message. I have seen more than enough advertisements in which an alcoholic beverage is seen rested next to a hammock on the beach or a young child with a look of sheer joy on his face is seated behind a delicious snack. They are on billboards, television, magazines, and the internet. They are anywhere and everywhere a picture can be posted and they're just pictures-no words except for the name of the item being promoted.
The marketers only need to hold our attention long enough to make us want to go out and buy their product. They don't need to provoke thought or initiate intellectual conversation (ironically that's what they're doing), they just need money. That means all they need is a picture. We see an excited child with a bowl of cereal and we think, "Oh man. That cereal must be great if a kid's getting that excited about it," and that is the exact message that the marketers are trying to promote.
You may argue that this doesn't happen to you, but in actuality this happens to everybody who is subjected to advertisements. It may not happen in the extremities of the example I just gave, but it does happen.
Postman also states that a photo cannot be taken out of context because it needs no context, but a picture does need context and it can be taken out of context. A fine example of a picture taken out of context is that of the global warming polar bears. I found an article to explain the picture at this site. http://www.truthnews.us/?p=852
Check it out and respond. It's very revealing.
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2 comments:
Indeed, I found Mr. Postman's observation rather odd as well. Many examples of photographs can be pointed to that can portray what written discourse never can.
While it may sound absurd, Postman comes across as having some sort of vendetta against anything that doesn't rise to the occasion of intellectual stimulation or inverted, yet dry social commentary [yes, I said it].
An economy doesn't fuel itself with large words or an inflated sense of self-worth as much as I'm sure Mr. Postman would've loved to see. Not everyone can beat a rotting, mutilated horse carcas for 11 chapters.
I'm not sure, but it seems to me that Postman may have been all too busy collecting a plethora of damning evidence against television to understand the simple concept of advertisement. Using photographs doesn't cast a shadow over quite as many people's heads like an over-thought out description does. Thus, it's use is more prominent.
And I believe Postman may have needed to polish up on his history of photographs if he truly believed that photographs cannot be mistaken in their context. Everything has a context and therefore can have it's context manipulated and/or misunderstood, and in many cases, misinterpereted.
Just another example of one of many of Postman's bizarre, unchecked exaggerations.
Keith, it is clear that photos don't tell an entire truth. Commercial photographs are always composed, as you point out, and candid photos leave many things outside of frame that are part of the scene. Hold on to these ideas, because it is part of a unit we will look at later in the year.
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