We are asked to:
Cut out some pictures from a newspaper and write your own captions.
• How do the words you put next to the image contextualise/re-contextualise it?
• How many meanings can you give to the same picture?
Try the same exercise for both anchoring and relaying. Blog about it.
We need to say what is happening here and where it is taking place. taken from Guardian 1 January 2016
Suggested headlines:
- Boy salvages what is left of his home after fire
- Street children salvage what they can from dumps
- Boy returns to what is left of family home after landslide
The actual headline was about a fire in a shanty town.
We can change the event and the place by changing the headline
Why is the newspaper publishing a picture of old irish banknotes? Taken from The Irish Time 1 January 2016
Suggested headlines
- Police find perfectly preserved old banknotes in bog
- The National Museum is adding old Irish bank notes to its monetary collection
- Inflation has increased by 100% since the change to euro in 2000
As the caption shows the article was about the withdrawal of the Irish Bank note. Apparently 10% were never recovered.
By changing headline we can suggest a find in a bog, a new exhibition or even use the image for a financial story.
Where is this young woman and what is she doing: Taken from The Guardian 1 January 2016
Suggested headlines:
- Another young woman assaulted on bus in Pakistan
- Young women becoming more independent in Asia
- Female immigrants being abused by their employers
The headline was about young Phillipinos being trafficked to Syria. We were able to change the country, so long as we remain within Aisa, and even the tone of the image from one of abuse to independence by changing the headline
Anchoring and Relaying:
First I needed to find out what these terms actually meant.
I found the following explanation in this article (1) which lead me to a second explanation (2) which helped me to face Barthes essay The Rhetoric of the Image (3). I have written a review of this essay here
IMAGE 1:
This image was taken from the Irish Times on 1 January 2016
My suggested Anchor headlines:
- Lone dog makes his way home in torrential rain
- Roads disappear under disastrous flooding
- Rivers burst their banks throughout the country
- Keep animals indoors in this serious weathr
My suggested Relay headlines
- It’s a dogs life
- You wouldn’t put a dog out in it
- Raining cats and dogs
- I can’t see a thing
IMAGE 2:
This image was taken from The Irish Times 2 January 2016
My suggested Anchor headlines:
- Politicians take a well earned break
- The blue Dail carpet will finally b replaced with a green one for the 1916 comemortaions
- Silence descends on the seats of power
My suggested Relay headlines
- We’ll be back in a minute – on loo break
- Coffee time in the Dail
- Did someone say they were serving champagne?
The article was about the upcoming election in Ireland and did have a caption and a text superimposed on it.
IMAGE 3
Photograph: Natalie Young/Getty Images/Image Source
An article in The Guardian 2 January 2016 by Juliette Jowlet
My suggested Anchor headlines:
- Examination time looms
- Girls do better than their male counterparts in examinations
- Female numbers in the workplace increasing
My suggested Relay headlines
- Pain relief begins in the temples
- Those two are giving me a headache
- I wish I hadn’t drunk that cocktail at lunchtime.
The article was about trying to keep a work life balance
IMAGE 4
Photograph: Ted Soqui/Ted Soqui Photography/Corbis
This image was taken from The Guardian 2 January 2016
My suggested Anchor headlines:
- Obama tries to push through gun law reform before his term ends
- Weapons stash found in secret location
- The firearm of choice for LA Gangs
My suggested Relay headlines
- Bang…..
- No smoke without fire…
- Choose your weapon with every pack of Cornflakes
It is clear that the anchor either as a caption or an attached headline or article steers the reader towards a certain interpretation of the image. The relay is more flexible and could be related to a number of images. It is more fun. The anchor can and is used as a sort of lease to draw the reader in a certain direction, usually following the particular politics or beliefs of the newspaper or magazine.
- 1. Anchorage and Relay » Madinkbeard | Derik Badman. 2016. Anchorage and Relay » Madinkbeard | Derik Badman. [ONLINE] Available at: http://madinkbeard.com/archives/anchorage-and-relay. [Accessed 03 January 2016].
- THE POWER OF CAPTIONS: WORDS ADDED TO PICTURES. 2016. THE POWER OF CAPTIONS: WORDS ADDED TO PICTURES. [ONLINE] Available at: http://austinkleon.com/2008/09/01/the-power-of-captions-words-added-to-pictures/. [Accessed 03 January 2016].
- . 2016. . [ONLINE] Available at: http://faculty.georgetown.edu/irvinem/theory/Barthes-Rhetoric-of-the-image-ex.pdf. [Accessed 03 January 2016].
Context & Narrative 