Blog Assignment 2: Image Analysis

This is a very basic typical high school prom snapshot. Without any text, the reader does not know where the picture is being taken, who is in the picture, or any other details. One can infer though, that the group is on their way to prom. Looking more closely at the image there is balance or symmetry - the people in the photo are equally distributed and the couples are all lined up. This causes there to be no focal point in the image since there is not a single subject.

Contrast exists in the image because of the bright coloring of the girl's dresses versus the darker colors of the boy’s tuxedos. There is a lot of detail in the photograph because the reader or viewer is able to see who is going with who to the prom and the different attire. There is no emphasis or metaphor since the picture is just a simple snapshot.

This picture is very conventional; there is nothing really creative about it. The teens are lined up in a row, in front of the limo, all facing the camera. There are no unique angles or deeper meanings behind the photograph.

After the photo is edited, it is less conventional because now it is an advertisement instead of a typical snapshot. I have edited the picture to look like the MasterCard Priceless ads, but I have changed the MasterCard logo to “ChristineCredit” for the purpose of copy write laws. By including prices for the different costs of the prom, it shows that even though it is expensive, it is worth the price you pay, because it is a once in a life time moment. MasterCard does this because they hope people will use their credit card for all the special moments in life. It also is very relatable and more heartwarming since it has the tagline “Your Senior Prom: Priceless”.

Something that is interesting is that without the text, the reader does not think about the expenses of prom, and not how they will afford it. With the text added, the reader focuses on how how expensive all the different aspects of the special occasion are, this is a great advertising technique on behalf of MasterCard.

Another point I would like to make is that without the picture that the advertisement would not be as powerful. According to Mitchell Stephens in his essay “By Means of the Visible” he makes the point that sometimes written word is more effectual than images and sometimes it’s the other way around. I feel that the combination of both text and the picture are what make the advertisement successful. In his essay Stephens quotes Aquinas saying that “images can be used to ‘excite the emotions, which are more effectively aroused by things seen than by things heard.’”