Representation And Representation Essay

Image and text have long been used among the principal forms of representation, as a way of representing someone or something. Many photographers and writers have delved into this realm to challenge the power of representation, by this one mean to challenge whether image and text can fully convey the truthfulness in the reality in which they deem to represent. For example, the photographers this dissertation will be questioning in relation to image and text are Martha Rosler, Lorna Simpson, Jim Goldberg, Walker Evans and finally exploring author James Agee. Through this dissertation, I wish to explore how image and text work as a form of representations challenging whether they are an objective depiction of reality or if they are inadequate.

Representation can be separated into object, codes and manner. The object is what is being represented, the code is the material used to represent and the manner is the way in which the representation is employed. Language is the code for literary representation, these can be deployed in different ways, for example, narration and description. These can produce all different types of outcomes, for instance, happiness, pity etcetera. Like so, visual codes produce shapes, colours and objects that all employ representations through signs. When analysing the relationship between the representation and what is being represented the consideration of semiotics is crucial. Semiotics is the study of signs and how they are used or how they can interpret. For example image and text both use signs to deploy what they are attempting to depict. As noted, photography and text are constantly used as a mechanism of representation claiming territory to realms of portrayal and depiction; they claim that they communicate to the interpreter what it is like to be the subject or what an environment is

I intend to split my investigation up into three chapters. Firstly I will explore Photographer Martha Rosler's The Bowery in Two Inadequate Descriptive Systems (1974-1975), discussing her use of image and text as a way of representing the Bowery. Pitting them against one another, I will deal with the power of image and text and the conflict of who holds a stronger claim to the territory of representation. This will be approached by separating the text from the image to see what associations are produced compared to when they are combined. I will then further my findings to analyse what happens when image and text are combined; to do this I will explore the work of Lorna Simpson and Jim Goldberg. This chapter will discuss how different types of text can change the way the image is perceived and how objective the representation of the subjects and issues are. Finally, I will explore representation through James Agee and Walker Evans Let Us Now Praise Famous Men (1940), where I will challenge the power of Agee's writing as a transparent representation of tenant families in America's south during the great depression. This will be approached by looking at how both Agee and Evans depict the lives of tenant families seeing what representations they produce and how they will be received to challenged their transparency. This