I found this image inside the May 2008 issue of Cosmopolitan Magazine. I’m sure many of you all know that Cosmo is rife with potential material to scrutinize, but I decided to do this image in particular because it wasn’t an advertisement exactly, but a fashion piece put together by the magazine itself. In fact, I almost missed this page entirely because it didn’t “speak out at me” like an advertisement does. I was really struck by this image because it portrays the model more passively that usual. Instead of being the main focus of the shot, she is situated at the bottom of the frame, as if she were a natural part of the landscape, rather than at the center of our gaze. Her stance is also passive; she lies on her back as if inviting the viewer to basically come on top of her. The original text of the image, “Be the catch of the day in summer’s simplest outfit: shorts and a striped tank,” gives a context for which to view this young woman. She is clearly depicted as being the catch of the day, which tells the viewer several different things: first, that she has no more humanity and that she is as useful to us as a dead fish in a fish market. We go to the fish market to buy food to prepare it how we choose to, and often, at seafood restaurants, we can have the catch of the day “however you like it.” Portraying the model as the catch of the day invites the viewer to consume not only the model herself in whatever way they see fit, bust also consume what she is selling and represents: the clothes and accessories. Without being an advertisement for a specific brand, Cosmo manages to display several different consumer items in the shot, totaling over 730 dollars. In this way, as the viewer gazes at the image, we are reminded of the real value of what is being offered for purchase and consumption. The image also implies to the readers that to be the “catch of the day,” or the most beautiful, attractive, desired object on display, one must have this “look,” attained through the purchasing of these specific clothes.
Tuesday, September 23, 2008
The Catch of The Day
I found this image inside the May 2008 issue of Cosmopolitan Magazine. I’m sure many of you all know that Cosmo is rife with potential material to scrutinize, but I decided to do this image in particular because it wasn’t an advertisement exactly, but a fashion piece put together by the magazine itself. In fact, I almost missed this page entirely because it didn’t “speak out at me” like an advertisement does. I was really struck by this image because it portrays the model more passively that usual. Instead of being the main focus of the shot, she is situated at the bottom of the frame, as if she were a natural part of the landscape, rather than at the center of our gaze. Her stance is also passive; she lies on her back as if inviting the viewer to basically come on top of her. The original text of the image, “Be the catch of the day in summer’s simplest outfit: shorts and a striped tank,” gives a context for which to view this young woman. She is clearly depicted as being the catch of the day, which tells the viewer several different things: first, that she has no more humanity and that she is as useful to us as a dead fish in a fish market. We go to the fish market to buy food to prepare it how we choose to, and often, at seafood restaurants, we can have the catch of the day “however you like it.” Portraying the model as the catch of the day invites the viewer to consume not only the model herself in whatever way they see fit, bust also consume what she is selling and represents: the clothes and accessories. Without being an advertisement for a specific brand, Cosmo manages to display several different consumer items in the shot, totaling over 730 dollars. In this way, as the viewer gazes at the image, we are reminded of the real value of what is being offered for purchase and consumption. The image also implies to the readers that to be the “catch of the day,” or the most beautiful, attractive, desired object on display, one must have this “look,” attained through the purchasing of these specific clothes.
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