Image Analysis

So far my favorite assignment this semester is the Image Analysis essay.  I think that this assignment was fantastic and still is for that matter.  This is mainly because it allows you to really analyze the advertisements that are floating around in todays society and think about what they mean.  What are advertisement companies attempting to promote through the things that they display? Exactly what meanings are hidden behind the photos? It helps to look at these different aspects of the photographs because the meanings that are trying to be addressed and plastered on our billboards and magazines are effecting the people in society as well.  Young kids have to see these pictures and form their conclusions about society and life from them.  If an advertisement is portraying an act as correct or normal, people will gather that information and conclude that it is in fact normal.  This can be good or bad depending on what the depiction is. If it is something harmful and demeaning to people then it's of course bad.  Advertising companies however do not care about this issue.  They are merely in the business to make money and play on things that they know will catch the audience's eye.  That's why there are so many advertisements that portray sex and drugs.  Our society has been structured upon things such as popularity and conformity when it used to be founded on honesty and integrity.  However that's the way that evolution works i suppose.  I like analyzing ads because I like to see what they really  mean and what crazy meanings they are trying to sell.