This week, we discovered that images are much more than what they seem. They can make you think about complex topics, evoke emotion, or persuade you to have a new world view. The advertisement below is for tires; more specifically, Michelin tires. It is a simple image of a baby beside a car tire, with one brief, yet powerful phrase: "Michelin. Because so much is riding on your tires." This advertisement caught my eye because usually ads relating to cars evoke traditionally masculine themes, but this ad seems to appeal to families through appealing to people's need for dependability and safety in their car. Most people, men or women, react to images of babies or children in a similar way; they feel the need to protect them. The idea that children need protection is a commonly held world view. This ad plays off of this emotion and it uses people's fear of getting into a car accident to then lead them to a preventative solution: Michelin tires. The ad suggests that the only way to keep your child safe is to buy this brand of tires. This message may not be entirely true, but it is powerful and simple.
The image below is a journalistic image from The Guardian, and like the advertisement shown above, has a child at the focal point of it. When this image came out in August of 2016, it flooded many news outlets. It shows a boy that was pulled from the rubble after an air strike in Aleppo. When I saw it, my heart sank and I felt the need to comfort the child in the photo. I think many people had a strong emotional response to the image because it shows a young, innocent boy in the middle of war. Seeing this picture made the chaos in Aleppo more tangible and real for those that live far away. It increases people's awareness of what it is like to live in a war torn region like Aleppo. I noticed that this image was cropped to make the boy be at the center of the picture, which definitely enhances its intensity. The image captured a moment of fear and sadness for this child, and it inspires empathy and sadness in those who see it. I think that the purpose of this image was to inspire people around the world to condemn conflict in Syria and other places around the world, in the name of protecting the lives of not only adults, but children who have no way out. Again, this image appeals to the world view that most people have in common, protecting children and their innocence. In this case, it would mean protecting children from war.
