Category: Media Analysis

The Duke and Duchess of Windsor

Is this photograph of the Duke and Duchess of Windsor (by Richard Avedon) a selfie?

How would you describe the look on the faces of these two subjects?  What might have happened (in the “backstory” of this image) to make them look the way they do? (You can use your imagination here.)

Richard Avedon (the photographer) is famous for talking to his subjects as he takes their photo.  What might he have be talking to the Duke and Duchess about at the moment this photo was taken?

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.nytimes.com/2019/02/04/world/asia/grenade-potato-hong-kong.amp.html

  1. Why does this company not have mandatory searches for their imported goods?
  2. If there are safety regulations in import companies, shouldn’t they follow through with a way that protects their workers even more?

Selena Gomez

Is she really happy ? What is she hiding behind that smile ? She’s cheesing so hard , but does she really mean that smile ?  . What is she really trying to tell us behind this blissful post ?

A heart

By: Eline Cortens

Discussion questions:

  1.  Why would the little girl be giving her heart away?
  2. Before the Reaper takes the little girl away. Why would the little girl try to teach the reaper the warm feeling of a heart?
  3. By the clothes that the little girl is wearing, Where in the past could she be from or what was she intending that she was wearing that kind of clothes?

Media Analysis Lab Agenda & Resources

–Use phones/PCs to find media (images, sound, etc.) to share on the blog.
–Show how to post content using the “Media Analysis” category.
—In addition to posting media, identify a contradiction, conflict, or enigma in this media and develop a series of discussion questions (2 or more) connecting to it.  No “Yes-No” questions or questions you already know the answer to.
–Discuss 1 person’s post.
–Write brief responses to that person’s post.
A model piece of writing for this assignment is Jerry Salz’ description of a selfie by Kim Kardashian:
The bizarre side of the mirror is Kim Kardashian’s now-famous picture of her ass and side-boob [7]. The pose is utterly banal; she’s like millions of others admiring themselves in mirrors, trying to show some part of their body to best advantage. Kardashian goes a step further. As she gets everything to show just right while admiring her own image in the phone, the third meaning that pops out is not her body. It’s how weirdly stage-managed the scene is. Her body is blatantly visible while her décor is carefully blocked off by Japanese screens. Her ass-crack is intentionally outlined, but she doesn’t want us to see her sofa. Kim has even authored four rules for the perfect selfie: “Hold your phone high [as you shoot]; know your angle; know your lighting; and no duckface!”
     Equally idiotic winds of third meaning blow through other recent celebrity selfies. Seventy-year-old Geraldo Rivera’s selfie shows him gazing at his own stomach muscles in a bathroom mirror [8], naked but for a low-slung towel.

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