Semiotics, Representation, Connotation and Denotation

Semiotics and Representation

Semiotics and representation is one of the cornerstones in media. It is used a lot in media and in photo journalism and photography.

Any word with 'ics' or 'tics' mans the study of something for example politics.

Semiotics is the study of signs/symbols.

In media, images are put together like words, and this brings about a semiotic meaning.

Representation is to represent something or someone so when you apply this to media e.g images, it gives a personal meaning.

Semiotics is the study of sign systems, it allowes media texts to be taken apart, and deconstructed - to show meaning (as well as important aspects such as trust) are created. semiotics shows that meaning develops at the simplest levels.

Semiotics - signs act to signify meaning - meaning encoded - audience decodes it.

A sign when it becomes noticed, acts as to signify meaning i.e it acts as a signifier. The meaning which is never more then the idea is called the signified.

Meaning is no more then an idea which is a basic literal meaning - denotation - it is what the sign denotes.

Connotations means a secondary or associated meanings of signs e.g the glove is just a glove but the secondary part or connotation is that the glove represents warmth.

Connotations develop when signs and codes are placed within a particular context, one that cues or brings to mind an associated, an existing memory or idea.

Photo Journalism

Henri Cartier Bresson was one of the first successful photo journalists and is considered to be the grandfather of modern photo journalism. he used the leica camera, this enabled him to look through the lens of the camera with one eye and see the world with the other, because the camera had the lens situated on the corner of the camera instead of the middle.

photo journalism is another way of telling a news story, the up rise of photo journalism coincided with the second world war so there was a lot of wartime images.

deceive shots are shots that if you would have taken the picture of the same image a couple of seconds before or a couple of seconds after, it would not have had the same effect.