Blog Exercise: Analyzing a Picture

Picture taken from justjared.com

This commercial photograph is for a Marc Jacobs advertising campaign. Victoria Beckham, the new spokesperson for Marc Jacobs, is shot in a series of pictures depicting her as a doll in all forms of Marc Jacobs merchandise and shopping bags. The photographer’s intention is to depict the consumerism lifestyle of society. How everyone wants to be like their favourite celebrity. It mocks at all the attention focused on the lifestyles of the rich and famous. As the other pictures from this campaign shows, Victoria Beckham is acting like a doll in all the Marc Jacobs’ shopping bags. To further make her look more vulnerable and doll-like, the top down camera view is used. The photographer makes the viewers look through the picture (Realism), at the picture (Formalism) and beyond the picture (Expressionism). Being a style icon, everyone wants to be like her, hence the portrayal of her in a shopping bag. The lighting is over Victoria Beckham, shedding little and less obvious shadows. The picture is also slightly over exposed to give a humorous shock effect. With the appropriate pose of Victoria Beckham, it shows how Victoria Beckham is caught in the act of trying to escape from the shopping bag. Her darker skin tones and hair colour is used to give contrast to the almost white picture. This brings the viewer’s eyes immediately to Victoria Beckham, which is the subject of the picture. Her awkward poses are also apt since people have the impression that dolls have stiff joints, further enhancing the doll persona. The framing is obvious, with the key subject in the middle. The lack of colour gives it a more serious and posh appeal, however if the images are shot in black and white, then the impact would be lost. The texture is obvious, giving it a more catalogue feeling. It makes the viewer feel like he/she is flipping through the magazine and saw these pictures.

Overall I think the photographer has done well in executing the images and portrayed his intended messages.