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This piece of photojournalism is from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
in the 1990’s, a place where poverty and slums are at their worst. The photo
shows a close up of a child in the foreground, with three blurry figures in the
background. Two are standing-up with an arm around a shoulder and the other is
leaning up against the wall. They are standing in a corridor and there is light
streaming in from behind them. The boy’s facial expression is full of sad and sorrowfulness.
The connotation of the photo gives us more understanding. Because we know the
photo is from Brazil, we can understand there is the possibility of poverty,
starvation and terrible living conditions. Also in Brazil there is a high
amount of orphans and ghetto’s especially in Rio. Therefore this photo could be
showing us orphaned children in an orphanage. And so, it gives us or me a
strong emotional attachment to this photo as I am a child myself, and couldn't
This piece of photojournalism is from 1930's America, a time
of real hardship for Americans especially blacks. The photo shows a line of
poor black people in a queue waiting for something, either food or a soup
kitchen etc. Behind them we see a large billboard showing the 'American Way'
which seems to show you have to be white to enjoy this way of life. Across the
top of the billboard it states; 'World’s highest Standard of Living'. This
again is declaring that if you are a white American you are going to live a
much better life than anyone else. Other denotations are; the wealthy white
people are happy compared to the poor black people and the white people have a
car and a pet. This photo is showing juxtaposition. It is showing the contrast
between the white people and black people, also it could be showing the
contrast between fantasy and reality of 1930’s America. 
In this advert, aspects of semiotics are used, especially
colour. This advert is made up of two main colours; black/dark colour and
yellow/gold. The background is completely black or dark with the women as the
central image with her skin colour giving off a tanned colour which looks like
a yellow/golden colour. There is also the Wonderbra tag in the top right
corner. Because of the contrasting colours the image of the women stands out.
The women's bra is also black which then makes her body and breasts stand out
even more. Another semiotic is the text. The text is in plain white (so again
it is contrasting) and it says; “I can't cook. Who cares?" it is
positioned cleverly, just above her breasts so our eyes are drawn to that area,
even if they weren't already. This anchorage supports the advert and adds an
additional message to it rather than just having women in her bra. The
statement, "I can't cook. Who cares?" is basically trying to say in a
literal sense 'I have big boobs so men will like me therefore I don't need to
be able to cook'. So the message is putting a stereotype across to men, that
all we look for in a women is either big boobs or able to cook, so if they can
do both great. In this case she only has the breasts. However the audience for
this advert is supposed to be women even though it will obviously grab men's
attention too. So the message for women is that the Wonderbra will improve your
breasts and make them more appealing or larger. (And this will help just in
case you can't cook.) Another main use of semiotics is the person they use. It is
again a stereotypical image; a provocative blonde woman with large breasts.
Some people would argue that this is sexist or stereotypical showing this
certain image, as it could just show a blonde bimbo. They would also argue the
stereotypical blonde women with large breasts but I would think Wonderbra did
lots of research before deciding what type of women to use. She also has a very
provocative expression and stance. She has her thumbs through the bra straps,
curly or messy hair and has her mouth slightly open and slightly smiling almost
teasingly. Most denotations are obvious. It’s promoting Wonderbra, the image is
showing how the bra can enhance your breasts, and it could also be saying that
women don't have to be able to cook to attract men, but they might have to have
large breasts instead.
In this advert, semiotics such as colour, text and messages
are used. Colour is used in a number of ways, for example, the colour of his
T-Shirt and hoodie could relate to his background or stereotype, such as the
orange shirt could relate to jail, as they wear orange shirts or overalls in
jail. This relates to the actual person used and his skin colour. The advert
uses a dark skinned man which could link to racial background and stereotype.
This is because, some people in society would relate racial background and people
wearing ‘hoodies’ into a certain group, which wouldn't have a good public
image. As well as this, it is a man used and not a women, this could be because of the gender stereotype society also has, with the males more likely being aggressive and hanging around in 'gangs'. The type of text used is also important in this advert. The text is shaped or shown as newspaper clippings put together to create a message. The first clipping says "Labeled", this shows us the message of the text and also relates the person and the text as we know it is him that has been labeled. It also says "Your little tag is way off", this shows the clippings are put together to form a first person speech, but the quote shows that he is telling society that the stereotype they have given him is wrong. This text is a strong anchorage, as without it we wouldn't understand the clear meaning of the advert.