Final Analyzation 5/8

Nike: For Women and Men

(Click above for the ads)

            I decided, since I am an advertising major, that I would analyze two ads. I thought for a while about what product would interesting, or what two photos would be good to look at. I thought about the class we had where we looked at two pictures of women, one from a women’s magazine website and one from a men’s magazine website. I liked thinking about how advertisers create their images to be target towards different genders. Instead of fashion, though, I decided to take it another direction and look at ads for sporting equipment. The first two brands that came to mind were Gatorade and Nike. They seem to be the two leading companies in sports advertising. Nike, of course, has their own women’

s division, so they were the obvious choice.

            When I began looking for ads, I discovered an entire campaign for Nike women that was similar to the Dove “real women” campaigns. It was four or five ads where the image was a close up of a body part, and the text was explaining why the woman liked her “abnormally muscular” build. I chose the one about shoulders that “aren’t dainty”

because it was my favorite, both compositionally and because of the text.

            The men’s ad a chose was of a famous man with prosthetic legs named Oscar Pistorius taking off from a runner’s stance. It says: “I am the bullet in the chamber.” I looked at a lot of ads, although I found that there were more available online for women than for men. I really liked the men’s ads with famous sports professionals that said “we are all witness,”

but I could not find any that were big enough to analyze. I like the one I chose, though, because though not everybody may know Pistorius, he is a very inspirational athlete.

Personal

            As a former soccer player and a great lover of sports and being in shape, I feel as if I am directly within the scope of Nike’s target audience. That is maybe why I like their ads so much. I actually find myself more drawn to the men’s advertisements, though. I think it is because I admire men’s sports and male athletes more than women’s. It also could be because the Nike women’s ads don’t use as many professional female athletes as the men’

s do with male athletes. I think people identify more with famous athletes than random models.

            I am also drawn to the men’s one that I chose because it is unexpected and catches your attention. As I have learned in my Visual Persuasion class, classical conditioning tells us to expect what is normal. While seeing a man taking of from the runner’

s point is normal, the prosthetic legs make the ad more memorable. It also makes it more inspirational, because the Pistorius, who was born without bones below his knees, is running just like a man who has his legs.

            The women’s one reminds me of the Dove campaign. I think using “real women” in ads is important to help change our stereotypes of women. I think that this really speaks to athletes as well, because most female sports players are not rail thin. Soccer players have muscular thighs, swimmers have big arms and shoulders, volleyball players are tall and all female athletes have scratched knees, scars and injuries. These ads speak to women to show them that these “unladylike”

qualities are acceptable and beautiful, just like the qualities we see in skinny models. I like this message.

Historical

            The male ad reminds me of Leonardo da Vinci’

s Vitruvian Man. The way that it shows the movement of the body in three separate images compiled together is much like the famous art created by the brilliant inventor. It also reminds me of the really old movies that were filmed by taking video of still images compiled together. I feel like when I look at it I am seeing this process slowed down.

            The women’s body being celebrated in art form has been practiced since humans have existed. The muscles in her back and arms remind me of the ancient Greek statues. The one that particularly comes to mind is the “Venus de Milo” statue, also known as Aphrodite. I think this is because the positioning of the head is exactly the same, if you view Aphrodite from the back. I also like the contrast between the two, the Aphrodite having no arms, and the woman in the ad having strong and muscular arms. The way the woman’

s arms are positioned makes them look slightly detached, just like the statue.

            It is also just like the Dove ads that came out a few years ago that stress the importance of real women and real beauty. That campaign made regular looking women look just as beautiful as high profile models. It encouraged the idea that individualism is pretty. This campaign does the same thing. It encourages women to break out of the mold and look how they want to look. It shows that they should accept their bodies because their muscles are just as beautiful as being thin is.

Technical

            I will start with the women’s ad. The image is created with two mediums, one digital and the other is a photo. The photo is high-contrast black and white. It looks as if there was a high key light coming from the front left. There are sharp attached shadows and a fast falloff, so I don’t think that they used a diffused light. With that lighting, every muscle and wrinkle on her body is enhanced, creating an idea of just how strong her upper body is. It further proves what the text says. Nike’s ads are famous for this high-contrast lighting, and the women’

s ads are no different.

            However, to offset the dark lighting on the woman, the digital area is bright and open. This is what separates it from the men’s ads. The splattered paint on the white has a floral, plant-like feel. The first few lines and the tagline, “Just Do It,”

are in pink. Pink is a color that has a connotation for femininity.

            I find it interesting that even though you cannot see the woman’s face or the rest of her body, the viewer still knows that the person in the picture is a woman.  It is because of those little feminine elements, like the pink text. Even the text is in the shape of a woman’s curve. In the ad for this campaign that is about having a big butt, the text curves directly along the shape of the picture of the butt. This is clever. The text is less structured and aligned than I think it would be for a men’s ad. You can also see her earring. I think another element is the tank top she is wearing. Without these things and the background, this may be mistaken for a men’s ad. It is interesting how just a few slight changes make this one a women’

s ad.

            The text creates graphic vectors towards the woman. All of the lines point to what the ad is about: her shoulder. Her body creates vertical index vectors. There is no headroom, which further increases the importance of her torso. It makes the subject her shoulders and muscles more than the actual person. It also makes it more personal. Although she remains anonymous, we are getting a detailed view of her upper back. The text on the right it like a journal entry. It is written like they are words right from her mouth about how she loves her muscular arms, even though they make be unladylike.

            The men’s ad has the same high-contrast lighting that the women’s ad does. On the three images of the Pistorius, they used a high key light from the top corner of the set. He is oiled up and has fast falloff to show his straining muscles well. Just like with the woman, in this image the man stays slightly anonymous if you don’t know who he is. We can see his face, but we don’

t see it from the front. There may be a little more of a diffused light on him, because I feel like there are not as many attached shadows as on the woman.

            What makes this photo more masculine is the dark background and the structured text. The colors are strong and masculine. It looks as if he is running in the dead of night with just a spotlight on him. His flexing muscles are also very masculine. The text is structured and clean because they used all capital letters and used black on white.

            The text is put in front and behind him to create graphic vectors that go along with his movement. It makes a line that goes across the page. The index vectors do the same thing.  His arms point both back and forward. All of these elements help create movement in the image.

Ethical, Cultural, Critical

            The ethical and cultural issue for the woman’

s ad is the image that the media has created for women. All the models, celebrities and people in the public eye are super thin. The fashion and entertainment industry has made unobtainable standards for women. This Nike campaign is trying to break that. It wants to show that muscular, athletic women can be beautiful too, and I think it is successful in this.

            It could also go back further to before my generation when women were not supposed to play sports or be athletic. In my mom’s high school, they did not have Title 9, which says that there must be as many women’s sports offered in school as there are men’s. Nowadays, women are free to play whatever sport they choose. They can even join the men’s football team and play with the boys if they choose to do so. The Nike ads celebrate this ability, not just in this campaign, but in all of their women’

s ads.

            The men’s ad also celebrates something. It celebrates how, even if people think you have something holding you back, you can persevere. Oscar Pistorius has broken 49 track records and is attempting to enter the 2008 Olympics despite rules against the use of “springs” like the ones in his prosthetics that would give him an advantage. The technology that allows this man to run like any other man has not been around very long. This ad is very inspirational. I don’t think that it is specific to just handicapped people. It simply shows a man doing something that people probably told him he would never do. It sort of has a moral to it, like: “you can do anything you set your mind to.” He is even known as “the fastest man on no legs.”

            I didn’

t even notice his prosthetic legs as first. They make him look so much like a normal athlete that it seems like a minor detail of the image. I think this is the point. They want him to look like a regular man, and have the viewer be surprised when they realize that he has prosthetics.

            Both ads are developed to have this inspirational quality. Most Nike ads do have this quality. These are both good examples of this, both for men and women. I like that these ads are kind of similar, yet so different, just with a few minor tweaks. It just shows that advertisements have subtle differences that help direct them towards their different target audiences. I have always thought that communicating with visuals was harder than people think it is, and now I am quite positive it is.

News Report 4/30

Click here for the CNN story. Click here for the Al Jazeera story.

Personal

I chose an article about the U.S. Terror Report for this story. What struck me first about this story was the captions for each photograph that accompanied them. In the CNN story, the word “sympathy” is in quotes. In the Al Jazeera one, “terrorism” is. I feel like the U.S. story is supposed to be mocking the man in the picture, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez. The Al Jazeera story seems to be mocking us, and the photo shows Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

Technical

In the photo of Chavez, he looks stern and angry. There is a high key light on his forehead and it is a tight close up. He is the only thing in the picture in focus, so he hold your attention. His hand looks like he is making a strong point and is creating an index vector towards the viewer. He looks like he is having an intense conversation. He looks like a dictator.

The Al Jazeera photo is less intense. Ahmadinejad looks less stern and scary. It is a waist shot and he is looking back behind himself. His face has a gentle look on his face. His suit is less expensive-looking than a leader’s should be. He is fixing his shirt, and looks like a normal person. He does not look like a dictator. He looks as if he is a regular person and the people that he rules can relate to him.

Historical

In the past, dictators have always had the kind of money to have expensive suits. They speak with their hands in quick movements (think Hitler). Everything about the CNN photo shows Chavez to be a dictator. The picture of Ahmadinejad is the exact opposite. The press is trying to make him look more like an everyday person and less threatening to discredit the U.S. terror report. 

Ethical, Cultural, Critical

Americans would assume that a leader of a country that is on the Terror list would be a dictator. We do not think of them as looking like Ahmadinejad. With the picture, CNN is trying to make the story hold water. By putting the word “sympathy” in quotations, it is as if CNN is mocking Chavez. They want him to seem like a bad guy because this is what we expect. 

Al Jazeera discredits the story by putting the word “terrorism” in quotations. It is as if they think this is a fake word. They want Ahmadinejad to seem like one of them. They are trying to make the U.S. the other while the CNN story makes the countries that made the terror list the other. The CNN story tries to make them seem like something we should be afraid of. Their story explains that the decision makers tried to find reasons to back up the list.

The Al Jazeera story makes it seem as if Iran was put on list because they have stop selling the U.S. oil. They continually use the words “accused” and “claimed.” The entire story tries to make the U.S. report seems utterly rediculous. 

I have a hard time deciding which story I like better. I think that the CNN story demonizes all the countries on the list to scare its readers. They also mention that al Qaeda is on the top of the list. This makes me think that the whole thing is just a tool to get people to back the war.

However, the Al Jazeera story is too hard on the U.S. It makes it seem like the report is crazy and that countries were put on the list for reasons that are not just. Both stories are so critical of the other side, I don’t know which one I pick as better. I don’t particularly like either. They are both petty and should try to be more fair. 

 

That’s Questionable! 4/24

For this week’s That’s Questionable, I wanted to open up a question to everyone. Could there ever be a news channel that is truly “fair and balanced?” People will always have biases, and no matter how hard they try, even the best journalists may have a hard time not getting involved with their stories. With such a controversial issue as the war, it is hard to set aside your own passionate opinions. I made me sad to see the documentary today. I wish that Arabs would not judge all Americans by what the president decides. It makes me wonder if they realize how many U.S. citizens oppose the war. I also find it questionable that Al Jazeera criticizes our reporting and our decisions, when they are being just as biased about what they broadcast. If they want news that is fair and balanced, maybe they should lead by example.

“The Other” 4/23

For my “the other” assignment, I decided to go in a lighter direction. I chose Hades from Disney’s Hercules because I think he represents a villain that has been around for centuries but has been updated to a more modern version.

I tried to insert the video into the blog, but I can’t get it to work. So to watch a clip, click here.

Personal

I love this movie. It didn’t come out until I was in middle school, but I own it and still watch it all the time. When it did not come out, I had studied Greek mythology just a few years previously and I felt really smart because I already knew all the Gods that were in the movie. Disney movies were the most memorable form of media in my childhood, because my parents didn’t allow us to watch much television. They always wanted us playing outside, but on rainy days, you could  find my sister and I parked in front of the t.v. watching Peter Pan and Aladdin. 

Historical:

Hercules’ story is, of course, from Greek mythology. His real name was Heracles, but the Roman’s changed it to the name we are familiar with. He was the son of the God Zeus and a mortal woman, Alcmena. In the Disney movie, Hercules’ parents were Zeus and his wife Hera, who was actually Zeus’ sister in real life. This was a much more wholesome image for the audience and they simply tweaked the story to include a way that Hercules lost his “Godliness.” The love interest in the film, Megara, was Hercules’ first wife. He represented strength (of course), courage, apitites, and (surprisingly) erotic adventures with both men and women. He was also known to slay many monsters in his time, just like portrayed in the movie.

Hades was the brother of Zeus and Posiedon. They defeated the Titans (like the ones in the movie) so they could rule sea, sky and underworld. They chose who would get what by “drawing straws.” The word Hades was also used to describe the underworld, where all mortal souls went where they died. The three-headed dog that appeared in the movie was also part of mythology and was defeated by Hercules as well. Hades was not supposed to be evil like he was thought to be, but passive and concerned with maintaining a balance between the moral world and the underworld. Mortals were afraid of him because he was associated with death, not because he was likened to the devil. The Gods were said to dislike him as well because he was dark and morbid (but how could he help it?). He did not have a flaming head nor did he  use fire as a weapon as portrayed in the film. He had a “helmet of darkness” which made anyone who wore it invisible and a two-pronged staff much like Posieden’s trident. The black horse-drawn chariot, however, was his main form of transportation just like in the movie.

Technical

The film, of course, is animated. All the Gods have a golden glow and Hades is always surrounded by black. The final climax, where Hades steals Hercules’ strength, takes place at night and there is a storm. They have applied the same principles to a cartoon film that would be seen in a real film. 

The scene where we first see Hades, he looks completely out of place. He is surrounded by surreal, heavenly colors and golden Gods while he is dressed in black and followed by fire. Even the fire is blue, to give him a cold look. His teeth are fang-like and yellow, and his lips are the color of a corpse’s. Many of the times that he appears after that, the mood and scenery becomes dark and scary. When he leaves, the sun shines once again. 

Black is the signifier, and death and morbidity is the signified. Bad weather, fire, death, and power creates Hades evil persona. His lack of sympathy for both Hercules and the souls that die shows how inhuman and mean he is. He also floats around on a smokey cloud instead of by using feet. All this is used to separate him from the other characters in the film and make him seem like “the other.” He is completely different from everyone else, making him the enemy.

Ethical, Cultural, Critical

Hades is visual developed around our own cultural ideas of someone scary. Sharp teeth remind us of wolf fangs and other scary animals. Fire is a dangerous element, and it being blue separates it from the warmth and comfort of a fireplace fire. His black clothing reminds people of a funeral or morbid ideas. He is the exact opposite of what we consider “pure,” because white signifies purity and black is sinister. The “good” Gods look much more human, with tan glowing skin and human bodies and human clothes. Their hair is not made of fire, and they do not float around. Their powers do not shoot from their hands like Hades’ fire does. They don’t float around like they are not effected by gravity like he does. Every effort seems to have been made to make him completely separate from the other gods but still making him look like he is at the same spiritual level. The is what creating “the other” is about.

 

 

That’s Questionable 4/17

I think that assigning us the Arab Femininity blog was questionable, but only because none of us know anything about the Middle East. I have even been to Morocco and I feel like I don’t know anything. Asking us to find a picture that shows Arab Femininity should not have been our first step into learning about this culture. I feel like us explaining our idea of Arab Femininity to each other was like the blind leading the blind! It would have been interesting if you could have gotten a speaker or a documentary that would have educated us a little bit more. I love to learn about new cultures, and I think that the best way to do that is to hear from people who have first hand experience in the culture we are discussing. This is just a suggestion– maybe you could find someone in the community to come in and speak on this topic next time you teach this class? That would be interesting!

Arab Generalizations 4/16

Arab femininity is much different than our definition of American femininity. I think it has more to do with actions. In Middle Eastern countries, women must wear long dresses and scarves to cover themselves. They cannot express themselves in a feminine way the way that we can. Instead, their femininity means taking care of their husbands and baring children. They are to be seen and not heard. In strict muslim cultures, they use their eyes to convey their sexuality and personality because this is the only part of them that is allowed to be seen in public. It is not so much about their physical nature as it is here in the U.S.

Personal:

This image is from my trip to Morocco in June of 2006. This is one of the most interesting and amazing countries I have ever been to. it was truly like being in another world. There are so many things there that are different, even from South Spain, which is only a short 30 minute ferry ride away from Tangier. I was surprised to find that their second language in Tangier was not English, but French. The city itself was dirty, hot, and a maze of alleys and streets. The men wandering these areas trying to sell things were pushy and bold. Their outdoor markets sold everything from clothes, to produce, to spices. I even saw a man with an entire dead pig slung over his shoulder. It was one of the best experiences of my life. I really felt like a fish out of water.

Technical:

This picture is a snapshot that I took as we were walking through the marketplace. I think that although it was a candid photo, it actually has pretty good composition. We were there in the middle of the day and despite the heat, it was slightly cloudy, making for vibrant colors in the picture. There are limited shadows because it was around noon. The little girl on the right is blurry and her arm creates an index vector that leads your eye to the two women sitting on the boxes. The wall curving away gives the photo depth. 

Historical:

I feel like this picture could have been taken anytime in the past 50 years. There is no indication of what year these people live in. Their clothes look more like burlap sacks and do not portray any kind of era. There is no indication technology in the photo either. While someone who was not there may think that the blue object in the background is some sort of motorized vehicle, I know that it is one of the many man-pulled carts that scattered the marketplace. I think that this is an interesting part of the photo. It shows how truly behind the times cities like Tangier really are. It would be hard to get a picture on the street in America that did not show what era it was taken in, either due to clothing or automobiles. In a second or third world country like this one, it is much different. 

Ethical, Cultural, Critical:

One of the things I noticed the most in Morocco was the difference in women’s clothing. It was hot and humid this day, but every women I saw was covered from head to toe in clothing. Even the younger school girls were not allowed to wear shorts. Although I was wearing a t-shirt and shorts that in the United States would have been considered modest, in Morocco I felt grossly exposed. 

I also noticed the difference in men and women’s behaviors. The men were the ones constantly bothering us to buy things from them. They were bold, and in many cases, pushy to the point of being scary. They sat inside tiny holes in the buildings (probably no more than a 5×5 alcove) and joked and talked while they created thread. Little boys ran around playing soccer. 

The women were much more subdued. The whole time we were there, I don’t think I heard a woman speak. They sat quietly like the women in this photo, either selling produce or clothing. I saw them walking around pushing carts. I did not see any little girls running around playing soccer. Many were helping the older women with their chores. 

My observations of genders in Morocco reinforced many of the generalizations I already had in my mind before I went. The women seemed suppressed. They weren’t allowed, either by men or cultural standards, to partake in the same activities as men did. However, they did not seem sad or upset by their situation. It seemed as if they had just accepted their way of life because it is all they knew. 

Getting to travel to Morocco and observe the culture was one of the most educational experiences I have ever had. I am so glad I went!

 

 

That’s Questionable 4/10

While we were watching The Shining last week, someone pointed out that the scotch glass was changing levels. I think that trying to find some directional reason for this is questionable. I truly believe that this is just a continuity problem that they did not catch. The person that was supposed to be watching for minor errors such as these was not paying attention at this moment. It happens all the time in movies. I don’t think that everything that happens in a movie is on purpose. Some things must be just an accident or a coincidence. This, to me, was one of those things.

Movie Scene 4/10

I chose a scene from award winning movie American Beauty. If you haven’t seen it you should! It is an amazing movie. Alos, if you haven’t seen it, don’t read my blog, because I will be analyzing the ending and will ruin it for you if you ever plan to watch it!

Click Here to see the plot.

The section I chose begins with Carolyn sitting in her car in front of the house. It is pouring rain. She turns and looks toward the front door, which is a blurry red square through the window. As she rolls down the window you see the red door.

Then is shows Angela and Lester in the kitchen. When Angela asks Lester how he is, he replies “I’m really good.” This is one of the first times in the movie we see him actually happy. When Angela goes to the bathroom, Lester sits down at the table and looks at a picture of his daughter, Jane. A gun comes into view, pointing at his head.

 

Personal: 

Because the view has spent the whole movie getting to know these characters, this is an emotional way to end the movie. While the scene is a little graphic because it shows Lester dead and in a pool of blood, there is something serene and artistic about it. The music gives a somewhat creepy tone to the ending. It makes me feel anxious, because I fee like something big is going to happen. By starting the scene with the camera being from Ricky and Jane’s point-of-view, it makes the viewer more in the moment and feel like they are actually there. The gun coming into view also makes me feel creepy, because on some levels you see it coming and on others, you don’t.

Technical:

One of the best parts of this scene is when Carolyn rolls down her window and reveals the red door. Red is a big symbol in the film, from the door, to Lester’s new car, to the roses that follow Lester through his daydreams about Angela. Although in this part it is pouring rain, you can see the door clearly. It is the only thing lit outside the house and its color is vibrant and bold. I feel as if this is a foreshadowing of the blood that will soon be inside. The music is quiet, and you can hear the rain falling over the piano. Red not only stands for passion like it has in the rest of the film, but here is also stands for danger. I think that the dark lighting in the scene and the slow, quiet music shows the viewer that the roll of red has changed. The rain makes the scene dark and tortured-looking. In many cases, rain symbolizes sorrow. It also represents turmoil, both inside the characters and in the world surrounding them.

In the conversation between Angela and Lester, the lighting is dim. It seems to be coming from directly in between them, but is a soft filtered light that does not reach past their faces into the background. The only thing lighting the rest of the kitchen is the moonlight coming through the windows. The shadowy look to the kitchen makes the viewer feel uneasy. The camera cuts back and forth between Lester and Angela at waist-shots. Angela is more lighted than Lester and is wearing white, which is a symbol of virginity and purity. There is also color in her frame, where there is none in Lester’s. The red roses on the table behind her correspond with his infatuation with her and with the blood that will soon be on the table with them. There is a fast falloff on her face, making her look tired. The music continues to be quiet, giving you a sense on how quiet it is in the kitchen. When Angela says that Jane is happy, the camera cuts in on Lester to shoulder height, and you see him with a genuine smile for the first time in the movie. When it cuts back to Angela, she is in a shoulder-shot as well. This shows the conversation is getting more important. The music stops at the end of the scene when Angela goes to the bathroom. 

The camera follows Lester around the kitchen at a further away angle, showing the full kitchen as he sits down at the table with the roses in front of him. The light is shown as a spotlight on the counter. Here the red begins to symbolize wrath: the wrath of Frank when he realizes that Lester knows that he is gay. There is a close-up on his face from straight on as he looks at the picture of Jane. It then cuts to a tight peripheral view, and you see the barrel of the gun come into the frame, but you do not see the hand holding it. All the light is coming from in front of Lester, illuminating both his forehead and the gun. The camera panes from the gun and Lester’s head to the picture in his hand, then to the vase of roses, and then to the stark-white wall, where you hear the gunshot and blood appears on its clean surface. The last real image you see before the blood is once again, the roses. The purity of the white wall is tainted by Frank’s wrath when he shoots Lester. 

Historical:

Since the beginning of time, there has been unrequited love, adultry, and lust. This is a movie about all these things. It shows that the American Dream is not always what it seems. It shows families that look like they are perfect when they are really miserable. Everything about this movie goes against the historically famous American Dream.

Ethical, Cultural, Critical:

As I said, this movie discredits the American Dream. While the Burnham family lives in a blue and white house with a white picket fence and they have nice cars and good jobs, they are actually anything but perfect. Lester is miserable, Carolyn is having an affair and Jane hates both her parents and will barely talk to them.

It also brings up an important social issue: homosexuality. Frank would rather kill Lester than have people find out that he is gay. Throughout the entire movie, Frank portrays himself as a homophobe, when he is really a gay man himself. 

 

That’s Questionable! 3/13

Last week in class, you read us a definition of “culture:”"A culture has two aspects: the known meanings and directions, which its members are trained to; the new observations and meanings, which are offered and tested.” While this definition is correct, you gave it as if it is the only definition that is correct. I have now taken four classes in which the teacher has tried to give a accurate definition of “culture:” this class, cultural anthropology, multi-cultural literature, and chicano culture. I must point out that every class has had a different definition. I think that there are main components that form the definition, but no one can be correct. It must state that culture is learned and that it is customs, actions, and traditions of a society. I think that anything beyond would just be the person trying to be a little more specific and would be somewhat of an opinion. I think that the term “culture” is much harder to define than we realize. 

Reno Style 3/11

 

I chose a picture of my friends and I hiking. I think that people who don’t live in Reno have a misconception that all there is to do here is drink and gamble. However, those of us that know better, know that there are many other things to do. Lots of people who move here do so because of the outdoor activities that are available. Hiking and the people who do it are a huge part of Reno’s style and a huge part of the outdoorsy culture in the area.

Personal: Because this is a picture of me and my friends hiking, I have a personal connection with it. I like to hike, and I know a lot of other people that live in Reno do too. This picture reminds me of spring and fresh air and good friends. It also makes me feel peaceful because nature is so serene.

Historical: This picture actually reminds me of a Lewis and Clark drawing I have seen. Click here to see it. Us standing on a cliff pointing off into the distance is remeniscent of explorers discovering a new land.

It also remind me of the Lion King, when Simba is born and the monkey holds him up for the kingdom to see. I actually think this is hilarious.

Technical: This is, of course, a natural light photo. Because I was there, I know it was late afternoon. The shadows cast from the hills and the sagebrush show this, as well as the light on our backs and framing our heads. Although the horizon is not perfectly straight, I still think the photo is balanced because there is more going on on the right side. It is asymmetrical.

The pointing creates a index vector that draws the eye of to the left of the image. I also think that the hill on the left leads the eye directly down to the people standing on the hill.

Ethical, Cultural, Critical: I think maybe the only ethical dilemma in this photo is the preservation of nature. We all know that Reno is growing like crazy and housing developments are consuming more and more of the natural habitat surrounding Reno.

As I discussed earlier, I think that the symbolic sign of standing on a cliff and pointing in to the distance is the discovery of new land. Although in this image this is not what it means, there are images in the past that resemble this composition that are of discovering new land. I also see this image of a small part of the foothills of the Sierras as a synecdoche. Even though this is just a small part of the nature that surrounds Reno, is stands for the greater whole of hills and hiking trails that are available for exploration.