Visual Syntax and Semantics

I want to argue on how we read one image, interpret and creates meaning from it. I was curious whether one image have fixation, application of syntactic rules of composition and semantics definition (study of meaning). I will use the image above for my analysis.

Fixation

Fixation is a focus of eye movement. In the image above the fixation are circle and numbered. The first thing that my eye focus on is the women's face in the mirror, followed by the body, the big word 'Dior', the bag, the sunglasses and the chair, the small word 'LADY' and finally, the tiny word on the upper right edge (the name of the model). Perry agree with psychologist S. Jay Samuels in her book "Words About Pictures: The Narrative Art of Children's Picture Books" that "...when pictures and words are presented together, the pictures would function as distracting stimuli and interfere with the acquisition of reading responses" - S. Jay Samuel (Nodelman, Perry, 1988, page 2). This is why we always notice the image first, then the words.

Syntactic rules of composition is base on visual observation of the image. Our brain can see colors, form, depth and movement. This is the basic way how we visually interpret things. In " An Autonomous Robot Photographer" written by Zachary Byers, Michael Dixon, Kevin Goodies, Cindy M. Grimm and William D. Smart, they stated that "Rule-of-thirds: It is best to place the faces in a photograph at, or near, the one-third and two-thirds horizontal lines in an image."- page 4. Thus, I can apply the rule of third here, same as the balancing of weight - colors between the background (grey) and her dress (red) ,and the viewpoint.

According to Paul Martin Lester in his book "Visual Communication: Images With Messages" , "We tend to associate a pleasant or bad experience with the color of the objects that constitute the event...Most people never associate color with a formless blab, but with a definite object. For that reason, memory of a color affects the perception of it." - Lester, Paul Martin, 2006, page 35 and 36. In this image, the plain grey background gives an impression of a lifeless or boring life. On the other hand, the presence of the red color of her dress give a contrast with the background, results in brighter, alive, passionate and emotional image. The semantics definition would be 'if you use this product your life would not be boring anymore. You will become more beautiful, sexy, fun and  confident'. In conclusion, the meaning of the image can be illustrate by interpreting the color according to its use or context in the image.

Without words too we would not know what product they are trying to sell. Thus, image and words need to be together to make a successful visual communication.

References:

Lester. Paul Martin. 2006. 4th Edition. Visual Communication: Images With Message. Retrieved from:
http://books.google.com/books?hl=en&lr=&id=6oibH9roTmkC&oi=fnd&pg=PP10&dq=Lester+2006+-+images&ots=uB1ht2LtBm&sig=uYvQeiHf4mI66gkxYIubepdK06M#v=onepage&q&f=false


Nodelman, Perry.1988. Words About Pictures : The Narrative Art of Children's Picture Books. Retrieved from: http://books.google.com/books?hl=en&lr=&id=kjmVSP1ap1YC&oi=fnd&pg=PR7&dq=words+and+pictures&ots=5lxuyUh62w&sig=jxp_Wi46Zob8ndpZoJsZhxSFCrA#v=onepage&q&f=false

Byers, Zachary. Dixon, Michael. Goodies, Kevin.Grimm, Cindy M. Smart, William D. 2003. An Autonomous Robot Photographer.