SECTION:
Multicultural education or is it possible to create a common cultural space?
A proposal for the reading of educational systems in Ontario and Québec
Marius Velicã (Dunãrea de Jos University of Galati)
Magazine photos: A Semiotic PerspectiveA newspaper or a magazine is a sign in itself which comprises a multitude of signs. There are many elements in a newspaper or magazine that may bear semiotic relevance: the masthead, the front-page / front cover, the photographs (those on the front page / cover as well as those inside), the headlines, the ads, the colours, the fonts, the title of the magazine, the layout, the texture of paper, the language adopted, the content of the articles, the tagline of a magazine, any possible motto of the newspaper or magazine and so on. Among these, photographs are some of the most suggestive and powerful ones. Out of the total number of photographs in a magazine, the front cover photo is usually the 'leading' sign of that particular issue. Such a photograph makes use of certain codes (size and position on the page, focus, shot size and use of lenses, camera angle, lightening etc.) to trigger a certain reaction of the reader. The reader, on his/her turn makes use of a similar set of codes to decode the visual sign. The paper analyses the combination of such codes (together with their connotations) that make up the end product called photograph.
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