Claire Harrison’s article “Visual Social Semiotics: Understanding How Still Images Make Meaning” is highly informative, perhaps, at about 15 pages, too informative. She starts out by providing an overview on semiotics, social and visual. She then discusses different categories of images and representational metafunction. She finishes up with interpersonal metafunction and then finishes up with compositional metafunction. I appreciate Harrison’s commitment and willingness to educate the reader and present the information in organized form. I do, however, believe that Harrison could sum up the entire article in one sentence: Images affect the people looking at them.
Harrison talks about how angles are used to make something look a certain way, esteemed or lowly. She talks about symbols and icons and I understand it’s important to go beyond the pretty picture element and get into the science of using images properly. But the information needs to be slimmed down and simplified. There needed to be an overview in the beginning to let the reader know what to expect. The sections on semiotics needed to be condensed. There was good use of tables and examples though.
On the ideas in the article, as stated before, I think the material is common sense and intuitive but I understand the necessity of technicality. The most interesting part of the article was a reference to Rene Magritte’s “The Treachery of Images,” in which the artist tells the viewer that the image of a pipe is just an image. I appreciated the Baudrillardian overtones. Baudrillard, a French philosopher, was a major critic of modern society for its addiction to virtual reality and obsession with images and hyperreality. I thought using Magritte’s painting added a good deal of credibility.
Finally, I think all people should be aware of at least the basics of semiotics because all of us accept and perpetuate visual representations without really evaluating their origins, methods, and effects.
I agree that a basic understanding of semiotics is imperative. The way we perceive things is what gives something meaning, and essentially, misunderstanding is a concept influenced by semiotics. Therefore, I agree with your one sentence... Images affect the people looking at them.
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