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Semiotics Analysis

Charbel Rajaee  

Teacher: Christoph Heldt 

Visual Literacy and Culture 

Due date: November 2nd 

Semiotics Analysis  

This famous image is called “Umbrella Jump”. It was taken by Elliot Erwitt. He is a French-American photographer born in Paris. The image was taken in 1989 for the 100-year anniversary of the Eiffel Tower with romance being involved. The addition of romance in the image makes the image more relatable because Paris is a city where many couples want to visit. In the photo, we can see that it’s a rainy day in Paris. The floor is very wet, and the background is very dark because of the clouds. On the left side of the image, there is a tall building with what appears to be some kind of museum. There are two statues in the front entrance of this building. There is a man jumping in the rain while holding an umbrella. On the right side of the image, there is a couple having their romantic moment in the rain. A man is holding his girlfriend by tilting her down and possibly going in for a kiss. The umbrella that they are holding seems to be backwards due to possible wind at that very exact moment. We see one person standing in the background and one that is seemingly walking. There is also another one right under the tower.  

The most important aspect of this image is the Eiffel Tower itself. It is the best hint to know that the image is taken in Paris, France. Erwitt uses candor and humor for his pictures but in this case, there isn’t much humor for the style of the image. The colors used in the image are black and white. The shapes of the building, the silhouettes, and the Eiffel tower are well formed. There is good space between the aspects of the image. One factor is that the tower is behind the man jumping. Therefore, there isn’t much space for that aspect but in general there is. The image has a lot of lines, the most visible line object is the umbrellas because they are all in a very dark black and it catches our attention faster.  The image contains emphasis because it catches our attention with the Eiffel Tower and the romance present in the image. The image is balanced, and nothing is really crooked. Our eyes focus mainly on the middle part of the image because it contains the main aspects of the photo. Therefore, there isn’t a lot of movement in this photo. 

This image is very literal and isn’t analogical or metaphorical. The photo is straightforward and doesn’t illustrate something that is “like” something. Not a confusing image at all and it is very clear to know what the image is showing. The main sign in the image is the Eiffel Tower. The tower is the main aspect of this image because it is celebrating the 100 years of its existence. It is demonstating romance and the most important aspect of the city of Paris. With the addition of the silhouettes enjoying their romantic moment, it reinforces the sign and makes a stronger impression on the viewers of the image. 

By using Saussure’s method, the signifier is the Eiffel tower as mentioned. The meaning of the image (signified) is obviously romance but another meaning to be considered is the celebration of the tower’s existence. The sign is also the tower since it is the main idea of the message. The sign does illustrate a strong meaning for romance. Most couples decide to go to Paris and visit the Eiffel tower because it represents romance. Therefore, the key message in the image is romance despite the image being taken for its 100-year anniversary. Objectively, the image is taken in a romantic place and the couples enjoy their dates in that area. Subjectively, it doesn’t really mean anything to people because it’s just popular place in Paris. 

Based on the analysis, I think the message is communicating effectively. It demonstrates romance effectively with the silhouettes being in a romantic moment right in front of the tower. The tower in Paris is known to be a good area to be with your boyfriend/ girlfriend on special dates. By looking at the image or reading a description of the image, it is easy to tell what the image is talking about due to the fact the Eiffel Tower is known. By adding romance to the celebration of the 100-year anniversary of the tower, it shows how the presence of the tower welcomes love all around the world and brings a positive energy. My point of view of the image hasn’t changed after the analysis because it’s a photo that is not difficult to know what the message is and what is being portrayed. 

Lunitz, Holden. Umbrella Jump. Elliot Erwitt, 1989, www.holdenluntz.com 

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Oil Spill in Lima Analysis

Charbel Rajaee 

Visual Literacy and Culture 

Teacher: Christoph Heldt 

Due date: October 5 

Exhibition Analysis  

The photo called “Oil Spill in Lima”, was taken by Musuk Nolte. He was born in 1988 and he is half Mexican and half Peruvian. He is a photographer, a descendentalist and an editor. His works are related to artistic and documentary photography about social issues, such as memory and environmental depredation. The photo was taken on January 21, 2022, in Lima Peru. This image shows one of the biggest oil spills ever. Nearly 12,000 barrels of oil spilled in the sea. The Italian tanker company that spilled the oil and the Peruvian government both said the cause of the incident is the inadequacy of equipment, mismanagement and trading accusations of negligence. It extended to 7.13 square kilometers, and it caused killing wildlife, polluting beaches and impacting livelihoods. It was so bad that it reached three marine protected areas and it affected the mammals and the birds leading them potentially to suffocation. People in tourism, commercial fisheries and local communities were also affected by this disastrous event. Experts think that the effects of this spill will last for 10 years. The image is mainly showing us men in gas masks and outfits trying to fix the issues and save the environment. We can see how bad the damage is and it's hard to breathe in that kind of air when oil is everywhere. My personal view did change after reading the description because it didn’t really look like an oil spill. It felt more like an air incident than an oil issue because everyone was wearing masks. 

The photo is showing us one of the biggest disasters to ever happen in Peru. The message it’s sending is how some men are wearing gas masks to prevent breathing in that poor air quality. It’s letting us know how dangerous it is to be outside in Peru right now for the fact it’s endangering everyone at that exact moment.  This photo could mean objectively that people’s lives are on the line and that it can start a country’s downfall. It is a disaster that can lead to death to people and wildlife. Subjectively we can say that it was an accident what the tanker did. Accidents do happen but it has a limit. That accident that we can subjectively say led to taking the lives of many and putting the country in a threatening position. Another feeling people can have is to blame it all on the tanker without understanding the company’s point of view. The photo has a national importance because it represents a country with a high risk of downfall.  The photo is taken in a special way to convey the message. Firstly, the oil spill that happened shows how it affects the society with the men wearing the hazmat suits. The photo shows the oil is coming in waves and not in a straight line so it could create some kind of fear for the viewer because it’s a dangerous event. Secondly, the black and white color makes the scene more apocalyptic with the addition of the rocks. The shapes of the rocks are different, and it creates a kind of pattern for it to not be boring.  What makes the image so special is that it was taken so well and the men in the picture are well visible. Everything is so clear despite being black and white. The background is foggy but helps show the insanity and the danger in the country. It catches our attention quickly because there are strong details in the image which we call emphasis.  

This photo is communicating effectively with the viewers because it is showing what is happening in Peru and how major it is. The image is like presenting the news but in just one picture. It has all the right details needed to catch a viewer’s attention in many ways. The details provided in that image are clear and don’t leave the viewer in confusion. This message is mainly targeting Peru citizens but could also be for the countries near Peru. They could get affected by this disaster because a lot of oil spilled and it went to the marines. It could also be a message to the whole world because some people follow the news a lot and they could get information about it. After doing this analysis, my reaction hasn’t changed a lot. The reason being that it was easy to understand the image with the description. The photo is so clear that it didn’t leave me confused while writing this analysis. In fact, images related to real life problems are photos that I enjoy learning about. What made my reaction change is that I found out that it was an accident that caused this disaster. I thought it was planned but it wasn’t, so it made me a little shocked. To conclude, the photo “Oil Spill in Lima” is describing the disaster that happened in Peru that will affect the country for at least ten years just because of a small accident. 

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Charbel Rajaee 

Prof. Christoph Heldt 

502-120-VA 

September 21st  

Ideological Analysis of an Advertisement 

The famous ad “Share Your Coke,” is made by Coca-Cola in Australia in the year of 2011. It was designed to connect with the audience while putting popular names of people. They stopped making those bottles in 2020. The subject of this successful project was about social sharing their Coke with other people. This impacted the awareness and engagement of people around the world. They made so many different ads about this and we have seen so much throughout the years. The key media used for this ad is digital platform. In this ad, they are showing an example of a name on a Coke bottle with the name of the ad. The lines and shape are connected to make the bottle. There's a lot of red in this ad including some white with the soda in the bottle. The texture is applied where the sparkles are on top of the soda and creates a lot of color instead of it being just black. It is formed like a cylinder a little bit and it's placed well to create space with the ad title. This advertisement also includes great balance, everything is straight. In my point of view, there is some emphasis in this essay because of how the company contrasted the soda inside the bottle. The point of all those is to catch our eyes and realize that something new came out with that specific company.  

The message that they were giving us is to create more relationships with buyers and share their happiest moments. This was a success and relationships started to grow and improve. In other words, we could call it social sharing. The ad had a subjective issue at that time, but also demonstrates hegemony and counter-hegemonic. A counter hegemonic happened in 2016 when the company failed an ad for Russia and Ukraine. The Russians were upset because they added Crimea when it is illegal and is from Ukraine. In addition, the company is against political movements, but apologized for the incident. In 2014, the LGBT community was upset at Coke for the inability to add the word “gay” on their custom cans. Obviously, this is an opinion by thinking the company was against that community. Another minor subjective event is when middle-eastern names weren't popular on the website to add on your bottle. This made that population upset and could develop opinions on Coke. Despite a couple of negativities, the company had so many positive facts. We call those objectives. The first fact is that people started to bring Coke for their friends and loved ones with their names on them. This made the marketing campaign become sweet and positive to all. Secondly, they made more money because of the number of sales they received. 1.9 billion servings per day in more than 200 countries. The sales went up by 7% and sold over 250,000 bottles in the first three months. One incredible fact is that virtual cans were shared and increased online traffic on Facebook and twitter. A basic factor for their success is the way they present their brand.  

Personally, I don’t think it is communicating the message effectively. The social sharing part isn’t related to personalized names. They could've specified and explained more what's the point of this print ad. Obviously by video it's easier to understand because they show examples and how it really works. Realizing that a simple print ad has less information than a video ad could lead to confusion for some viewers by looking at this print ad. For it to be more effective, they should add more detail to the ad and more context. The primary audience Coke was aiming for are Millennials. Those are young, 18-25-year-old adults. The second important audience are middle-aged people. My personal reaction to this ad is that it’s too basic for me. They could've added more detail with a better background. At first when I saw the name and context, I was confused and didn’t know what it really meant. Obviously, I heard of it before but never understood the real meaning till now. It could use some work, but I think this ad is still good and brought a lot of positivity despite the negativity. It brought good energy and made the world more social. In brief, Share a Coke will always be one of the most famous ads ever and will always be seen as a good thing.

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Charbel Rajaee  

Prof. Christoph Heldt 

502-120-VA 

September 7th, 2023

Formal analysis assignment

The Starry Night was painted By Vincent Van Gogh in 1889. The artist was born in Netherlands on March 30th, 1853. He is one of the most famous artists in the world and he is well known for his oil paintings. In a 10-year period, he almost painted 900 paintings and approximately did 2100 art works in his whole life. Another thing that he is well known for is cutting his own ear. The painting was done in France at the Saint-Paul asylum in Saint-Rémy. The subject of the painting is that he used memories and emotions that came in his mind from looking outside of his window where there was a view of the countryside. He was letting his depression do the art for him instead of his own positive thoughts. The styles used in his famous painting are modern art and post-impressionism. The Starry Night will always be one of the best projects in Western art to this day. In 1890, he died from a suicide in France. The painting is currently at the Museum of Modern Art in New York and is worth at least 100 million dollars. 

Van Gogh used many elements of art and principles of design. He used composition, which is a huge element of art. It includes balance, proportion, emphasis, rhythm, movement, unity, contrast and pattern. Van Gogh used all of them for his painting. For the elements of art, he used color, line, form, shape, texture, mass and light. As we can see in the painting, there is a lot of color. Mostly blue, yellow and white are visible the most because of the sky. Obviously, he was focused more on the sky of the drawing to create spiral effects with a lot of lines to show the effect. Shape was more used to make the little houses. However, he used lines in his whole painting. The mountains, the tree, the sky, the buildings and roads were all done in straight or curly lines. The texture and light added to the painting brought more emotion and effect to the people viewing this work. 

The cypress tree is made with the mass element of art. This could be related to death or a horror event. Nobody knows what Van Goph means with this tree, but it’s a possibility knowing that he was depressed while painting it. The rhythm is mainly related to his swirls in the sky, and it creates a pattern. By adding the swirls in the sky, it gives the effect of a windy day in a spooky neighborhood. The balance is perfect because the sun and the tree aren't on the same side. In brief, Van Goph uses a lot of elements and design to present his work and his emotions. 

To conclude, I’m really impressed of how talented the artist is despite some negativity in his projects. I don’t like to see people suffer and not feel happy because we only have one life to live. After discovering his life and what he did, it made me understand more about his mental health and his work. My main reaction about the work is I feel related because sometimes people get thoughts of negativity or don’t feel enough for someone. To be honest, I think he was trying to tell us that his life isn't going too well and that he is stuck in a dark place. Another possibility is that he feels unsafe in that certain place where he drew the painting. He could also feel shocked about something that came to his life. Therefore, my understanding did change a little bit because I thought it was related to a horror event. Most paintings send messages that we would have never guessed the meaning because a work could mean anything. My point of view for The Starry Night has evolved and made me realize that artists don’t do art for quality. They do it to express themselves or teach us something that could be useful for the rest of our lives.