Case Study: The Commodification of Human Relations Response

In this case study it focused on Barthes’ description on photography as having two meanings. The study focuses on a mobile phone advertisement and the obvious and hidden meanings within it. It first talks about the obvious, which would be the documentary part of the image. Then the study talks about the hidden meanings within it, which would be what the advertisement is subconsciously saying. I think it is interesting in how there is a very strategic way that advertisements are constructed. I always knew that they had to be general yet specific in order to appeal to the most amount of people that they can. Advertisements try to connect with the viewer, and by connecting with the viewer it persuades them to buying their product. I think it is very strategic for photography to be used in this way because it can evoke meaning in the inanimate object by the surrounding elements in the photograph. I don’t always think that technology can provide the same comforts as another human can, but this advertisement uses key elements that focus the viewer into thinking that it can do that, and more. I enjoyed reading about how much thought goes into an image when it comes to advertisement. The previous reading in the Wells book mentioned how, “Advertisement photography wasn’t its own genre because it mimics every other genre.” I think this quote applies to this advertisement because it seems to have everything summed up into a well thought out image.