My Final Post

Well fellow writers, the semester of Images in Action is coming to a close and I wanted to take the time to summarize my blogging experience with all of you. I think my blog is a good representation of who I am and how I see things through my perspective. I hope that through my perspective and analysis of visual rhetoric in the images I chose to blog about and participation in interactive class discussions, you were able to get to know me better as the semester proceeded. 

    

                     

                        First Post

Last Post

In my first blog post I introduced my home, where I grew up, and how that place (my home in Muskoka) has shaped the person I am today. My last blog post was on a controversial advertisement for a sport that I associate with, but a company that I don't support (Reebok's CrossFit ad). Throughout my blog I tried to include a balance between personal experiences and achievements, and more generic/ relateable topics like the environment, comics, and advertisements (things that we can all have our own opinions on, with fewer personal biases on my part). Throughout my blogging experience, I realized that when I talk about things that interest me and that I can relate to, I have more emotion in my writing and I hope you were able to see that. I think this routine blog helped me dig deeper and uncover more detail in some of my personal experiences in a way that I never have. Throughout my blog I think I gradually moved away from just simply telling a story through my perspective to actually uncovering details in the visual rhetoric in each image and then using those tools to construct an argument. 


I think it is interesting the way we can look at images in advertising for example, and see patterns in the visual rhetoric. What I have learned from this is that a lot of strategy goes into creating advertisements, and more so than I had originally thought. Digging deeper into the different strategies of ethos, pathos, and logos incorporated in advertisements has helped me become a better analyst of visual rhetoric.

When I go over the images that I have been blogging about all semester, one thing stands out to me as a constant theme in my choice of images, and that is that they are all images of the outdoors (except for the last advertisement). I think this says something about myself and my interests. The fact that I am only noticing this now suggests that it was unintentional, but obviously something that I enjoy and can relate to. 






Here is an image that we encountered in class this semester. This image is one that particularly confused me because now that we have technology to do this, how do we ever know what is real and what is fake. I think analyzing this image in class has made me more skeptical when I look at photographs on the internet. When I initially saw the image on the right by itself, I didn't question for a second whether it was real or not, but now I really understand how important it is to consider the fact that photos such as this one should be questioned. I think this is also why I used my own personal photographs because to me that is as close to reality as I can get. But how can all of you know that I didn't photoshop my pictures? Thats just it, you can't know, and thats what makes this confusing.

Good One Reebok...

Blog Post #7

Reebok! How could you say such a thing? 

Reebok recently came out with this ad in Germany and as you can imagine, it didn't take long for the public, mostly women, to express their outrage. The ad was pulled 2 weeks after it was exposed in Berlin according to an article in the Toronto Star.  

How did Reebok ever think they would get away with this? That's what I want to know. If you read the article you will also see that Reebok apologizes quickly and almost acts as if they were unaware of this ads exposure.

For those of you that don't know, Reebok recently bought the naming rights to CrossFit. Reebok has completely rebranded their entire business around CrossFit. Their new slogan is "Reebok CrossFit the sport of fitness has arrived. 

As a CrossFitter (from before it became commercialized) I have a hard time seeing ads about CrossFit to begin with, not to mention ads like this one that I am showing you today. I was quite content with the CrossFit lifestyle before Reebok bought the name. It was a fitness lifestyle that people joined and adopted and it was different than any other kind of gym BECAUSE it wasn't commercialized, materialized, and backed up by a "big name" like Reebok. It was inevitable that Crossfit would be bought out by a large sporting company, but on an individual level, it will always be more than "the latest fad" for me and I will never associate Reebok with this aspect of my fitness lifestyle. 

So you know a bit about my exposure to CrossFit, now you can see how an ad like this one is really annoying to me, not even so much offensive; but here we have a company who just bought naming rights to a "sport" that I have already made a part of my lifestyle well before they got involved, and they send out messages like this one. I am not impressed. 

I think the message about not cheating on your workouts is a great idea, but that message is almost lost when Reebok over-powers it with the part that says "cheat on your girlfriend [instead]". Those particular words, because they are so harsh, are what everyone who sees this ad will take away from it, hence the outcry and backlash that Reebok experienced with this ad. 

The image in this ad is not even very powerful, or fitness related. And it doesn't have to be. The power is in the written message. The only problem for Reebok is that this "bold" statement will probably only do bad things for their company. For a fitness lifestyle that intends to attract both men and women, these kind of sexist, and disrespectful statements are not beneficial to Reeboks campaign whatsoever. 

Some may argue that this kind of statement, although it gives them a lot of negative attention, at least their name is out there. This is not an effective marketing technique for a company that is trying to spread the word about a "new sport of fitness". More people will be mad about this than intrigued by it, and if anything people will see this and lose interest in supporting a company that sends messages like this one.

Let me know what you think. 

Is this offensive? Or funny? 

Does it make you want to support Reebok? Or does it change any positive thoughts you ever had about the company? 

Picture Perfect Moments

You know that feeling where you are in a moment and you want it to last forever? That is a picture perfect moment. This photograph that I am showing you is also one of those moments (for me).

It's not everyday that I see the world at 5 in the morning, but last summer, it was part of my routine: wake up at 5am, crush a crossfit workout at 6am, and then work at 8am. I was moving particularly slow one morning; it's hard to get up when it is still dark outside. But I eventually went downstairs to make a quick breakfast. It wasn't until I was in my kitchen that I saw out the window and noticed this incredible sky. I was then literally drawn to it, and went outside to get the full feel of this spooky, yet captivating natural experience.

When I stepped outside on to my front patio the sky felt heavy overhead and there was an unsettling energy in the air. I say unsettling, but I also got a feeling of calmness. My feelings were conflicting at the time. Why? How? What do you see when you look at this image? How does this unique sky speak to you?

Remembering back to my childhood, my father always used to say this expression: Red sky at night is a sailors delight; Red sky in the morning sailors take warning. Let me start off by saying that although the sky in this image is more of a pinkish colour, a "sailor", for the purpose of this expression would consider it to be red. We talk about how red symbolizes warning and caution, but why in the morning? And why is it that at night it means delight? It's got to be more than just simply that they rhyme. But what? Perhaps my initial reaction of feeling an unsettling energy was due to my recollection of this expression from my childhood. To take this another step further, perhaps my scepticism of this expression today contributes to my conflicting feelings that I experienced in this moment.

I also want to say that since I have been at university and away from home, I have come to appreciate these moments more. As a child and teen I wouldn't have ever really thought much about it. This view is one that I have been waking up to my whole life, but never before have I taken this much time to really soak it in, reflect on it, and admire it. There is something about being away from home for the past few years that makes me see my home environment differently. I took a picture of this moment because I knew it was one that I wanted to revisit, and recall the feeling that it gave me that morning in June.

Beautiful Backyard

In May 2010 I went to Costa Rica and had the opportunity of living in a beautiful Costa Rican family home. When I arrived at my host mom's house with my backpack and an open mind, I was greeted and welcomed with open arms. This photo was the first view I saw as I entered the front gate of the house. An open concept entry that extends into the backyard; a typical layout of a middle-upper class Costa Rican home.

My apparent fascination with this view led my host mom to give me a tour of her entire backyard. In spanish (our only way of communication; perfect for me as a Spanish student), she pointed out the different kinds of trees and greenery that she had growing out there. She had everything from avocado trees, to lime trees, she even had a banana tree! This being my first trip outside of North America, I found this incredibly fascinating. Three of my favourite fruits in the world, and this woman was lucky enough to have them all growing in her backyard.

Apart from the plant life and beautiful flowers, there were a few other things living back there too! This is where her two pugs spent the majority of their time; what dog wouldn't be content with this living space!  

The other moment I will never forget was what happened while I was exploring the backyard before my host mom gave me the official tour. I was out playing with the dogs shortly after arriving to the house and I heard someone saying "HOLA!" (spanish for Hello). I could tell it was coming from outside and I could here some voices from the neighbours above and to the left of me, but I couldn't see anyone. I continued playing with the dogs and heard it again... "HOLA". I still didn't see anyone, but I said Hola back. Feeling a little puzzled not knowing who I was speaking with, I ventured back to the entry of the house and then my host mom wanted to show me her backyard. The first thing she showed me was her pet parrot! As we approached the parrot, I finally realized who I was essentially talking to. I couldn't help it, so I burst out laughing and then had to tell my new host mom what had happened. She got a kick out of that story and it made for a good icebreaker into her home. 

This was only the beginning of my Costa Rican cultural experience, and it was a fantastic start to my amazing adventure!

What Lies Beneath

I stumbled upon this image as I was researching environmental statistics for a speech I had to deliver in my speech class last week. My speech was on raising environmental awareness, and although I didn't have the opportunity to provide visuals, I feel that this image speaks to my topic in a way that words cannot.

Naturally, white sandy beaches, turquoise oceans, and pure blue skies evoke positive emotions and feelings of paradise, nature, calmness and opportunity in viewers. But here, we can see what lies beneath. Disturbing nature is something that the human species has become quite accustom to, to say the least. How are we to see nature as beautiful, and optimistic, when we directly and indirectly contribute to its disturbance on a daily basis.

While this image symbolizes our disrespect for our planet, it also suggests a loss of innocence. The little boy dressed in white represents innocence and our naive view of the world. When he literally lifts up the water, he discovers that "just because you can't see it, doesn't mean it isn't there". His "perfect view of world" has been compromised by this new perspective. Problems do not disappear by masking reality, but the first step in the solution process is identifying and accepting the problem as reality.

This powerful image provides viewers with motivation to make changes in their lives to help save the environment. It is suggesting that there is a greater problem than most of us believe there to be. And sometimes you cannot just look at the infinite horizon and see a perfect world when there is a problem  right in front of you, or under your feet.

BMW Defeats Audi in a Game of Chess

BMW advertisement (note the billboard in the background as well)
-click here for source-

I am not much of a car person, but I must say this advertisement definitely got my attention. I like the creativity in having the two billboards play off of one another. In order to understand the advertisement, the two parts of the ad must be seen in the same frame. This could be challenging given that most of the viewers are driving by and might not have much time to see both billboards and understand the message on the fly. However, the placement of the "punch line" part of the ad ("checkmate") is in front, implying to viewers that there is more to the story, and to keep their eyes open for the other segment of the ad.

BMW cleverly uses the comparison-contrast technique, as discussed in class last week, to encourage the consumer to buy their product rather than their competitor's, in this case, Audi. In fact, this image relays quite a few comparisons and contrasts. Let's take a look:

The Game of Chess

Just like a strategic game of chess, there is a strategy in this ad and that is to idealize BMW. In the game between BMW and Audi, BMW wins. BMW is marketing their brand of car as being one step ahead of its biggest competitor, just as a chess player wins by being a step ahead of his or her opponent. To analyze even deeper into the chess metaphor, BMW portrays its product as the "king of cars" that remains standing, while the Audi is forced to stand down, or surrender to BMW.

Colour Contrast

Another obvious contrast between the product and its competitor is the colour choice. The white BMW on the black background really accentuates the bold and sleek qualities of the car. The BMW also has a shadow that helps make the car stick out, giving it a bold, three-dimensional feel. The Audi is black on a white background and doesn't give the same full effect of prominence that the image of the BMW has.

Arrangement


The portrait arrangement of the BMW image makes it seem larger and adds to the dominance of the product over the Audi. As mentioned earlier, the billboard placement makes sense to the readers eye because the the viewer notices the featured product first, and then looks for the counterpart of the ad. If you have the opportunity to step back and see the advertisement in its full form, it also makes sense that the dialogue is arranged left to right. This follows our natural habit of reading and having two separate billboards gives a page turning perspective.

Dialogue

Finally the two different voices in the dialogue of this ad implies that Audi is passing the torch so-to-speak. One might argue that Audi is saying "your move BMW" with a vulnerable tone; whereas BMW's "Checkmate." is very confident and outsmarts its competitor. Again we see BMW coming out on top, and that the game is over; there is nothing else Audi can do to redeem itself, BMW wins.

Is This Art?

In class we discussed, to some extent, “what is art?”. Professor G-B would show us an image and open up discussion by asking “is this art?”. Today I want to show you an image and ask you what you think. Is graffiti art?

I took these photographs while I was wandering the streets in Valencia, Spain. When you think of Spain you may think of the architecture, statues, or famous gardens as art, but what about this street wall graffiti?

The vibrant colours and metallic shine are what made me not only want to take a photo, but also to take some time to step back and really admire the mural. In my opinion this is art. Graffiti is definitely an artistic talent.

Besides the intergalactic design, this mural offers a written message to its audience. Close to the large blue character is a message that says: “Live big in a small world”. To me, this means something along the lines of making yourself standout, making a difference, following your dreams and getting the most out of life in the “small world” in which we live. The artist is telling its audience to express themselves in “big” ways. You may agree to some extent that this graffiti artist is taking his/her own advice and is “living big” and standing out in this “small world” by showing this kind of artistic expression on a street wall.

Who else is appreciating this kind of art? As I was researching this mural, I came across the exact same image on a website called Street Files. This site is quite interesting. You can get background information such as its year of production and its location on graffiti from all over the world including this exact image that I am providing in this post.

Muskoka: My Home

Hi All,

I’m Jessie and I am happy to share My Perspective with you. A bit about me: Western knows me as a 4^th year student with a Sociology major, Spanish minor and Professional Writing certificate. Through My Perspective I hope to teach you a little more about who I am and what my passions are. As well, I look forward to receiving feedback from fellow writers and getting to know all of you this semester.

Home. What better place to start? Johanna’s blog inspired me to share my home with you.

I have to say that this is one of my favourite pictures of all time. Autumn in Muskoka, and especially on Lake Waseosa, is such a beautiful time of year. This picture does only some justice to the actual scenery. I feel very lucky to have grown up here all my life in a house that my dad built.

My neighbour took this image from his boat on Thanksgiving weekend 2009; I was in my second year at university. I will always remember this date because it was the year I didn’t make it home for the long weekend. He sent this photograph to me to say, “Look what you’re missing!” I have to admit I definitely missed out that year on seeing this beautiful autumn colour and my neighbour succeeded at rubbing it in my face.

When you look at this picture you will see a house, stone steps leading down to a dock and the autumn leaves brilliantly reflected on the water. Perhaps you can relate to this image in some way, but I can’t make you feel the same feelings I get when I look at this picture. What I can do is try to express my perspective.

When I look at this image I can almost smell the fresh air, and feel the stillness of the water beneath me, as if I was the one out in the boat taking the picture. This is my home. A lot of my great memories of childhood occurred here. Off the end of this dock I learned to swim, dive, water ski, canoe, fish, drive a boat, you name it. When I tell people I live in the bush, I really do mean it. When I tell people I probably spend more time outside than in, I mean it. And when I tell people at school that I am home sick, it’s not necessarily because I miss my parents, or my friends, or my sister; it’s because I miss this view, this atmosphere, this natural environment; my home. 

Thanks for reading!