Very recently Britain saw the passing of Baroness Margaret Thatcher. The first (and only) woman Prime Minister for Great Britain. The reaction to her death was met with mixed response as some hailed her for being an inspiration to women all over the country whilst many adopted a more hostile reception.
What was most interesting amidst this media frenzy were the front pages of every newspaper the following day. As seen below some went for a more motivating headline: going as far as calling her “The woman who saved Britain” and “The great transformer”. Interestingly some opted for a more negative view with headlines such as “The woman who divided a nation”…
Accompanying these headlines were images. Each one giving a very different feeling to its viewer.
It’s obviously very easy to form an opinion on someone as high profile as “The Iron Lady” but how easily are we as viewers convinced of a story if there was no accompanying headline or a four-column article to go with a photograph?
How easy is it to take an image out of context and add another headline? The Independent magazine image seen above could easily work for a negative or a more inspirational view of Thatcher. The image looks ominous but also ambitious.
This kind of imagery leaves a lot to the viewer’s imagination.
Let’s do a test. Look at the image below and try and work out a story for the person in the photograph…
What did you deduce from this picture? Innocent looking? Smart? Did you predict her to be a victim of murder? Perhaps she was a missing child?
Each interpretation will be different.
This is in fact a picture of Mary Bell.
The well-known serial killer who in 1968 killed two child victims at the age of 9. Now doesn’t that change your whole perception?
Any original thoughts of empathy, pity and curiosity (assuming that’s the approach you chose) are possibly now replaced with a more hostile and unforgiving feeling. Knowing this information it is now very difficult to imagine her as a regular human being. Even whilst looking at her childhood photographs below you’ll always be thinking about the inhumane crimes she will go on to commit.
Special news reports and television documentaries have been known to use this technique to gain empathy from its audience.
Biographies both in film and literature often choose these types of photographs to get its viewers to agree with their opinion of the person in question. Below are a few examples of some film covers. Without even knowing about the story it’s very easy to get a general idea of the film. Of course you only think this because of the way the photo has been taken (or the knowledge you have on these people gives you an interpretation of the photograph).
Another example of how an image can be taken out of context was the incident between ex-Barcelona footballer Zlatan Ibrahimovic and current star defender Gerard Pique.
A journalist snapped a picture of the two footballers in a very intimate looking pose. This resulted in a media frenzy as news outlets all over the world jumped to many conclusions. Some going as far as implying a homosexual relationship between the two. The rumours were quickly shrugged off by both footballers.
Much of the take on the ‘pose’ was driven by what is culturally acceptable in some countries looking strange and having a different implication in another. Some individuals and even countries and cultures see such a close contact and public showing of camaraderie as perfectly fine. Whilst in others it is considered behavior best to be kept private. Of course all this was a result of a camera shutter closing at a split second. Seconds later this same shot would’ve had a completely different composition and resulting feel.
Without any guidance, without someone giving their opinion an image can have infinite interpretations.
It is interesting to see what one person feels about an image may not be what everyone else feels. It is therefore important to not be easily influenced by the title on the page but to form your on opinion on the matter.
Remember that an image may speak a thousand words, but perhaps you should only believe half of what you see.
Hakim Shujaee is a Designer at Happy Creative, a full service marketing and creative agency based in Blackpool, Lancashire. To learn more or contact us please go to www.happy-creative.co.uk
