For this project each of us picked one picture to analyse from both a denotative and connotative level while linking the three pictures though a common theme to make the analysis more coherent.

the helplessnessof the children in this situation.This image is a symbolic one. It is symbolic of the effects of war on childrenas well as representing their case for not having this war. These sevenchildrenconvey all the main emotions experienced by children in times of war andconflict.In terms of representation versus reality, this photo strongly representsthe plight of young children in war, but also displays the harsh realitiesof fear, horror, terror, innocence, and helplessness.Whereas the boy in the centre of the image is the central character, thetext indicates the importance of this photo is in conveying the way thatall the children of Vietnam felt at some stage in the war. The photographer,Jovan Dezort, chose not just to take pictures of the violence of the war,but also of scenes of daily life. The text says that Dezort wanted to showthat Vietnamese children were no different to those from any other countries,and he succeeds. Therefore, the text endorses the photograph. Also, thesignified in the photo is the boy in the centre smilingImage 2DenotativeThe image I have selected for study is The Early Morning Rush by Neil Fagan.The image taken at 7.00am at a train station called King?s Cross/ St PancrasStation in England.The image shows train passengers walking along a platform, after steppingof a train on the right hand side of the picture. The train is in the shadeof the roof of the station. The passengers shown are predominantly middle-aged men, dressed mostlyin suits and ties.On the far left of the picture are another train. The light from outsidethe station is gleaming along the sides of this train.In the centre foreground is a red metal crash barrier, in front of an emptyrail line that leads off into the background of the picture. There are smallpools of oil and greasesThe curved metal roof of the station covers the trains, the empty trackand the passengers. The roof only allows in narrow strips of light fromthe outside.The background of the picture shows the light form the morning coming throughthe curved opening of the station.This creates strong light contrast in the picture. The in coming light silhouettesa large metal grid, suspended from the end of the roof.FormThis light contrast is part of the form which Barrett (1996) uses to definedenotative analysis with the equation ?subject matter + form = content?.It is immediately obvious that this is a picture taken from without hugeamounts of preparation but rather an image capturing an aspect of everydaylife in the city.The image is presented in a book called One Day For Life in which the photographerfrom all over Britain took photographs of their day on August 14th 1987collected into five sections - the early hours, the morning, the middleof the day, the afternoon and the evening. This is important aspect whenconsidering the form of the image. It is not shown in an aesthetically pleasingart gallery. Rather this is simply an image from everyday life conveyingan everyday experience, i.e. commuting.ConnotativeUsing connotative analysis we can gain a lot more meaning from the image.The picture is about the entrapment of commuters in their mundane workinglives in the city. It is morning and they are reluctantly travelling intothe boredom of their work, signified by the dark of the train station, andleaving the beautiful morning behind them. They are walking away from thelight and hope of the new morning.The train on the left is important because it represents a possible escapefrom the darkness and boredom of everyday working lives in the city. Butthe train lies just beyond reach, across an empty train track. This is similarto the van in the image studied by Robert as both are possible means ofescape, but are used as such in either picture.The signifier is the image itself and the signified is the commuters arrivingin the train station. This gives us the sign of the drudgery of everydaylife of working and commuting in the city.Image 3My image is taken from a book called ?Other Americas? which comprises ofphotographs of Latin America, taken by Sebastiao Salgado.The image was taken at a rubbish dump in Brazil in 1983 and it depicts workersold and young, male and female rummaging through what others see fit tothrow away.The signifier is the camera and the signified is the rubbish dump. Accordingto Barrett (1996), an effective method of content analysis is to apply theequation ?subject matter + form= content.? This form of analysis, also knownas denotative analysis means describing the subject matter such as whatcan be seen in the image, and analysing the form, which can be describedunder headings such as image density, contrast and focus. When undertakingan analysis of the subject matter it is useful to divide the image intosections such as the content of the foreground, background and centre.DenotativeIn the left foreground a young boy can be seen hauling a rubbish sack alongthe ground. The ground is covered in rubbish and he appears to be scanningthe ground for anything of worth. The centre foreground contains more rubbishand a black dog sniffing around. The right foreground shows a young manin a black and white stripe shirt with a cylindrical bag on his back.Left of centre shows two more seemingly despondent workers trudging throughthe rubbish while a bird circles overhead. In the centre of the image asimilarly tired looking female can be seen with a bag on her back. To herright, a number of birds can be seen looking for scraps.In the left background, hills give the picture a sense of perspective. Inthe centre there are a couple of mounds of rubbish and what looks like twochildren playing. There is also a van with a man leaning on the left door,looking relaxed. In the right background there is a shack, possibly wherethings can be stored and various mounds of rubbish. Four men can also beseen standing around, looking fairly relaxed.It is noticeable that those in the foreground have their backs to theircamera and their body language such as their slumped shoulders and the waythey have their head down suggests they are tired from working.FormThe focus of the camera is general although it could be said that the actorsin the foreground are prominent. There is a black/white contrast in thisimage, created subtly by a line running horizontally from left centre toright centre. This contrast increases the possible connotations of thisimage. The image can be described as sparse in its use of people and objects,but full of intriguing connotations.ConnotativeOn a connotative level, there is a powerful contrast between the peoplein the foreground and those in the background. Those in the background arevisibly more relaxed while those in the foreground are working hard andhave their backs to the camera. Another interpretation of this image isthat the animals are competing with the workers for food. This would addto the difficulty and increase their frustration at working in such a harshenvironment. The van in the centre background is quite ironic as, in the1960s, that type of van would have symbolised freedom, yet the workers arereal victims of circumstance, trapped and unable to escape their jobs. Theimage shatters the stereotypical image of Brazil; flamenco dancers, carnivalsand beautiful football and highlights the hidden realities of Brazilianpeasants.ConclusionWe each picked one image and, based on our research of various books, weanalysed the images separately and then brought all of our research togetherto compare our images under our theme of entrapment in different forms.This project has made us think more about the images we see and about themeaning that the photographer is trying to convey. When analysed from bothdenotative and connotative levels the three images prove that there trulyis more to the image than meets the eye.BibliographyBolton, R. The Contest of Meaning; Critical Histories of Photography. MassachusettsInstitute of Technology. 1993.Bourdieu, P. Photography, A Middle-brow Art. Polity Press 1990.Tausk, Peter Textbook Of Press Photography. International Organisation OfJournalists, Prague, 1981Wilson, H. Words And Pictures. New York: Arno Press 5616 (The LiteratureOf Photography)Rodger, G. Magnum Opus: Fifty Years In Photojournalism. Edited by Col.-London:Nishen 1987Lester, P. Photojournalism: An Ethical Approach .Hillsdale, N.J.: L. Erlbaum1991Barrett, T. Criticizing Photographs, An introductory to Understanding Images.2nd Edition. Mayfield Publishing Company 1996.Angel, H. One Day for Life. Bantham Press. London. 1987Salgado, S. Other Americas.Random House, inc. New York. 1986.