Brief

Cut out some pictures from a newspaper and write your own captions.

1. How do the words next to the image contextualise/re-contextualiseit?
2. How many meanings can you give to the same picture

Try the same exercise for both anchoring and relaying. Blog about it

Original images and captions:

When I was coming up with some alternative captions, I realised that I may watch too many episodes of “Have I got News for you” I had the need to make them humorous and controversial and felt like I was doing the caption competition! I tried to make a couple of them appear real although completely wrong according to the original article.

1. How do the words next to the image contextualise/re-contextualiseit?:

Figure 1. The original caption adds to the emotional response that most people would have reading the article. I tried to change the meaning but keep the subject matter the same. When I read the caption, I was doubtful as to how long any ceasefire might last in that part of the world and wondered if a more positive outcome would still work with the image; It does, although it is still adding to the emotional response.

Figure 2. This one was quite different from Fig. 1 (assuming fig one was a true image) because the image is not being used to send a message, or to control meaning. It is purely a picture of the people in the article but the image itself doesn’t add meaning to the article. For this one there was no meaning to change as such, but I used it in a similar way to the way in which stock photos are used.

Figure 3. The original caption as in Fig. 1 helps to illicit an emotional response. The way the shot has been taken also gives an idea of the scale of the problem. The caption change was around the fact that the pollution also looked like freezing mist or snow. It changes the meaning of the image but there is still a hint of the natural work being in trouble and the scale of that problem.

Figure 4. The original caption and image give the impression of a triumphant President on one of his golf courses. The new caption is a direct reference to the current political issues surrounding the election in the US, where President Trump is refusing to concede, and completely changes the meaning. Not triumphant any more, but incredulous. It is meant to be humorous with a hint of satire.

Figure 5. This alludes to images being used to portray almost the opposite of what they were originally taken for.

1. How many meanings can you give to the same picture:

Try the same exercise for both Relay and Anchoring

For some reason I found myself wanting to put quote marks around the captions or questions marks at the end of them. Partly, to try and get the message across that it was me; the author of the caption saying something. And that I wanted the viewer to think about the image and the caption rather than see it as an extension of  information.

Bibliography

Figure 1.
Zavallis, A., 2020. The Observer, p.32.

Figure 2.
Vidotto, F., 2020. The Observer, p.41.

Figure 3.
Mann, B., 2019. The Guardian, p.9.

Figure 4.
MacNicol, I.,/Getty, 2016. The Observer, p.14.

Figure 5.
Zeya, S., 2017. The Observer, p.5.