Context of practice // Lecture 12 notes

Globalisation, Sustainability & the media


Definition of globalisation

multinational corporations have become the leading force, specifically western companies are now more powerful than countries.

we are in a globalized world where the western market has spread just about over all of the developed world.

The spreading of the free market.

a market dominated by the less.

a dominenemt western (american) culture which is starting to take ofver the world.

Communications has made us more globlized, with the development of being able to communicate quickly and easily.

Mcdonaldization - where the principles of american businesses of rigid hierachy wheere everyone is a part of a "machine"

Marshall Mcluhan - Media Philosifer

talking about the advent of radio and the invention of tv - new technological forms, extends our ability to communicate and see right round the globe. brings us together with the effects of telecomunication.

we start to live in a "global village"

This should make us more aware of each other globally. Mcluhan was both right and wrong by saying this because technology has enabled us to view the rest of the worl easily but then it also hasn't brought us together as he had planned.

Book Jihad VS McWorld

-Centripetal forces bringing the world together in uniform global society.
-centrifugal forces - tearing the world apart in tribal wars.

Organisations a plastered all around the world, and they have a system so they are not accountable to politics in the world.


imperialism, is the system where one country would try and create an empire by taking over another country and adding it to their empire.

Key thinkers - Schiller and Chomsky

cultural imperialism - forcing your culture on another, until eventually it is accepted as the norm.

The mass media is one of the main mechanism for tansfering cultural imperialism

People think the mass media is a giant free market, where companies compete , some are succesful and some arn't

but thats not true, all the media is controlled is controlled by 4 or 5 giant multinational corporations.

Time Warner - Multinational Corporation - Huge and own hundreds of smaller successful corporations.

Whatever media you are consuming, it is more than likely is actually owned and controlled by a huge organisation such as Time Warner.

New corporations divide the world into 'territories' of descending 'market importance'

1 - North America
2 - Western Europe. Japan and Australia
3 - Develo[ping economies and regional producers (india China, Brazil)
4-4 the rest of the world

No one has interests of spending as much money in 3rd world countries because they know there is no money in these countries, so they will not make a profit.

Schiller - 'New fors of cultural dependency'

American culture - you can be free by consuming / buying things.

the logic of global marketing - a product is created in the west, then repackaged slightly to suit other countries.

Chomsky and Herman (1998) - Manufacturing Consent

He says the news is an elaberate propaganda system to manipulate the masses

Propaganda Model - 5 basica filters

- Ownership
- Funding
- Sourcing
- Flak
- Anti Communist ideology

Rupert Merdoch - owns most of the media in the western world - manipulate the masses by telling pack of lies in the news which has been controlled by the leaders of these huge private businesses

Newspapers making adverts more important than the news. manipulate the information we get throughout the media to make you think about consuming.

Comprising fossil fuel and automobile companies such as Exxon, Texaco and Ford. The GCC was started up by Burson-Marsteller, one of the world's largest public relations companies, to rubbish the credibility of climate scientists and 'scare stories' about global warming.

Sourcing - journalists being limited to only ask questions that they are allowed to by the mass corporations, they do not end up asking the real questions but just publishing the news that they are told to.


Politicians using mass media to help their votes.

Al Gore - using the media of film to manipulate and scare everybody into realising that the world is on the edge of global catastrophe.

Trying to tell people that the problem of global warming  will be solved by consuming more products, replacing their current belongings with new 'greener' products.

in reality, governments trying to make us make changes such as  recycling, buy energy saving light bulbs / cars, will actually make no difference if these huge organisations are just pumping pollutants into the atmosphere, land and water.


Greenwashing - in attempts by companies to make their products appear more eco, just by putting green on their packaging.

Design Production // Design for print and web - Photography website visual research

Jill Greenberg

This seems to be a fairly common web layout within the photography industry, there are many variations of similar themes, with the plain white back ground and small sophisticated logo and nav bar. 

The reason I like this one specifically is due to its fixed tool bar and logo which scroll down the page with you, the logo sits behind the photographs but the nav bar sits above which creates an interesting aesthetic.

I dont however like the placement of the photographs on the website, the spacing looks unnatural and it spoils the rest of the website I think. 

Mitchell Kanashkevich

I think black backgrounds suit photography based websites, I like the aspect of the large centered photographs which lead your focus straight to them. the rest of the website is nothing special though.

Brent Stirton

I think the size and placement of the nav bar on Brent Stirtons website works incredibly well, it 100% suits the taste of the website, looks great and forces the focus towards the photography, which is the aspect he is promoting.

Paolo Boccardi

This is my favorite website I have seen so far, I like the fact that a single image takes up the entire background with the nav bar fixed over the top, when you scroll up and down on the page the photograph changes but the bar stays still. It keeps the focus on the photography and is overall a really good looking website. 

I would like to use a similar concept on my website. 

Jessica Hilltout

I am not overly keen on this site but i think it has an interesting idea using the Polaroids and masking tape, which gives a more physical feel to the photography, but the type used seems a bit childish. 

Chris Phelps

The separate scrolling area for the website navigation is a little annoying but looks good as it has a slight opacity which allows the image to be seen through slightly, I also like the fact that it has a free scroll which (on macs and tablets and phones generally) you can scroll which ever direction you like, instead of having a set slide show as many other websites contain.

John Wright

This is another one of my favorites so far as again the photographs on the home page fill the entire background and the nav bar and links sit fixed on the top, it also has some other really nice loading and scrolling features which change through different pages.

If there is one piece of criticism I would give it is that the page layout changes a lot throughout the entire website, and each link that is clicked on the page changes to a different presentation style. so i tink it could maintain a little more consistency.

Context of practice // Lecture 11

Censorship and 'Truth'

 Ansel Adams

'The camera never lies' - not the truth anymore with photo editing software

- repeats one photograph over and over
- small sized photographs

- does a photograph always show the truth? 
- uses negative over and over again - changes exposure when developing to create different outcome.
 

Documentation photography

- edited photographs to remove individuals even from many years ago.
- it has become more apparent with the development of technology but it started along times ago.

Advertising

- Examples of how digital technology can be used to change the meaning of a photograph - possibly in numerous or ironic ways.

- Magazines and editorial using modern technology to enhance imagery in magazine, which in ways is a lie to the audience.

- Does it matter in instances like this? Kate Winslet has had legs in photo edited to make her legs longer and more attractive to a certain audience.

it becomes more of an important talking point when these images are serious news

- Photo used as propaganda by Robert Capa 1936 ' Death of a loyalist soldier'
- Is this photograph actually showing the death of a soldier or does it just seem that way and we trust the fact that it is because of the title? There is no way of proving this.

- You are encouraged to believe what we are told in relation to the phtograph.

- This quote makes you believe that the photo is true, it manipulates the viewer to believe what they are told.

- The Mexican suitcase - Robert Capa had a suitcase that was found with all negatives, which proves the death of the soldier but not in the way that was perceived in the media.

- The caption persuades you to believe what they want you to believe.

- It helps it appeal to your emotion to feel sympathy and support the soldier.

Peter Turnley

Jean Baudrillard

- Offensive to Americans or anyone who's family died in the gulf war.
- it became a media representation of what war was like.

- Turnley's images actually show the reality of it, featuring on the mass graves and death of the innocent.

- Black and white creates a classical notion, it makes the image a little less real for the viewer, if the images were in colour it would make it alot more real.

- The photograph below by Ken Jarecke was a famous image featured on the front page of many newspapers, these newspapers were told off as this is seen as too 'real' and gruesome for mass media. But on the other hand this is an image which shows the reality of the war and focuses on the truth. Should this be the way of media to not censor reality but instead leave it to the audience to decide if they want to see it or not?

- Raises the question should media photographers have the power to show the entire truth.

An-My Le 

- A totally different perspective of war, it shows different views and positions in the war, in some cases making it look beautiful or relaxed.
 

Cadburys flake - using sexual references - arguing that each image is perceived in a different way depending on the individual viewing it.

- This sexual reference is implanted in peoples head but then it says more about the person watching it than the advert itself. 


- These are examples of how photographs are perceived and what they suggest.

- The image below perhaps suggests angelic white girl and a demonic black child, is this a suggestion or is it just how the viewer perceives it?

Photograph by Stephen Meisel.

- A photograph that is perceived to be a sexual reference and the showing of the nipple caused the most offense which resulted in the advertisement being band.

- This image was then re released in a magazine and because of the change of position it is perceived in a completely different way and even though it is the same photo it is deemed acceptable.

- However if you go into historical art museums there are similar styled art pieces with equal amounts of nudity and sexuality, it is perceived as more acceptable if classed as 'art', even though it is a painting showing nudity  and some form of incestuous theme it is still seen as more acceptable in today media due to the fact it is an artistic representation and the accepted fashion of art at the time it was painted.

Balthus

Shows pre pubescent teens in more seductive and sexualised positions even though it can't be proved that it was 100% the intention of the artist.

- The recreation of this painting below onto the Bow Wow Wow album cover features a 15 year old girl on the cover, this was commonly accepted as it was a famous band copying a famous art work but nowadays considering it is a photo of a minor even though nothing too much is shown, it wouldn't even be a suggestion as it is very much frowned upon in today's culture.

Sally Mann

A photographer using her children to make obscene suggestions which can be perceived in different ways.

- A child seeming to be smoking but in reality it is just a candy stick which makes suggestions of smoking but in reality it is just the viewers perception

- This image could possibly be seen with some sexual intent, but as it is her family it is seen as more acceptable, the idea of pedophilia is implanted but it is only because these images were not just kept within her family unit but instead published in books.

Tierney Gearon

- Again a photo that would be acceptable to have in a home photo album but when blown up and put in an art gallery to is seen as entirely inappropriate because of the modern awareness of pedophilia.

Nan Goldin - Another photographer who creates exhibitions from children in arguable positions, using titles to un sexualise an image but in reality these are rather offensive images which are questioned.

- Image from 1976 of young actress Brooke Shields, was widely discussed whether it was in fact a sexual image, this photo was removed from exhibitions after the police suggested it was.

This was a recreation of the same photo later on in Brooke Shields life,which still seems unacceptable because it is still a representation of an unaccepted image.