As we have discussed in class the culture (images, movies, songs, poems, etc.) that bombards us every day has impacted how we view and feel about almost everything we come into contact with. This is know as the "structure of feeling". I picked this photograph because it evoked a strong response from me and it also represents the ideal version of romantic advertising/ imagery on a contemporary level.
This image "constructs the romantic" by first of all introducing us into a beautiful landscape complete with rolling clouds, trees, and fields. It reminds me of the images we discussed in class. How could one ever want to be involved in civilization when the natural world is this appealing. It also stresses individuality with a single chair, inviting us, the viewers to come in and join the scene. It is clearly a rural scene, completely innocent from the flaws and evils of civilization. I feel like this image is arguing us towards a "green" ideology and at the same time promoting and exposing us to the beauty of the natural world. But i also feel like it is arguing for the joining of nature and civilization due to the strategic placement of a clearly modern looking chair in the middle of the natural landscape and due to how the tree and chair literally connect into one another.
This image spiked feelings of tranquility in me when i first saw it and after thinking about it for some time i began to be able to read it like data and form opinions on when the political/ ideological rhetoric of the image could be. I believe that it is arguing us to accept the combining of nature and technology and also to support a green alternative. After all, that beautiful landscape and rural setting looks so amazing compared to drab city life, and that modern chair blends in so well to the whole scene, inviting us the viewer to join it all.
I like how you expanded your analysis of this romantic piece to the political/ideological rhetoric of the image. This image will not work for everybody because the viewer will view it through their own intertextual development of how they feel about nature. They may not have any emotion evoked from this image. With that said I feel you analyzed this image perfectly, with a great touch on how the chair stresses individuality.
ReplyDeleteI love this. I agree with Kevin when he says that this picture is best read on individual terms because when I first looked at the photo I did not read romance at all. As I continued to read your analysis however I began to admire your take on the photo and could see the beauty within it. Well done!
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