Task 3 Image Analysis- Context of Practise

The Uncle Sam Range, 1876, by Schumacher & Ettlinger

1915, Saville Lumely

When looking at these too images you can see immediately that they are very different in composition, the first is very lively and almost chaotic, it shows a bigger picture whereas the second is a lot more subtle and its a lot closer, this could reflect the countries they are both from the first is typical American and the second is typically British.

Another component, which really shows this, is the type. In the first image the type looks like it is from the ‘wild west’ part of America where slab-serif was used often in posters and other printed medias. The type in this image is also gold and so it again refers to the ‘wild west’ where they would mine for gold, and it was a centralised part of their culture. However in the second image the type is smaller and subtler, it is in almost formal script like font, which is typical to the era in Britain.

Both of the images are trying to persuade their audiences to do something, but they are doing it in a different way. The first image is trying to persuade its audience to buy a range, it is doing this buy promoting an affluent lifestyle e.g. it is showing a better/ wealthier lifestyle, this is in the form of small details such as the black slave on the left, (which at the time a wealthy family would have and it was a part of their culture to own slaves.) As well as this the furnishings and attire of the room and family are also lavish and represent ideas of a wealthy life. In this sense the second image is also creating this same effect, but this poster is trying to persuade the audience with guilt you can see this by the look on the mans face, and the way he is looking directly at the audience, forwards, and you can also see this by the way you is in capital letters and its underlined, it targets the audience specifically. This poster is also saying look at the lifestyle you could have, the war will be ‘Great’ meaning you will be victorious and if you contribute, it will give you a prosperous future with a nicely furnished home and children, you will come back perfectly fit and well (- you can see this as the man has no ailments or disfigurements), the war will be talked about in story books and through toys, everyone will be proud and happy. And so both images are showing a better, affluent lifestyle if you do what they are telling you to do.

In both of these images the target audience is men, in both contexts of the pictures men where the leaders of the household and would make all the decisions. For instance in the fist image the man would buy the range, and in the second the man would feel its his duty to got to war. You can also visually tell the target audience is male, as a man is central to both images.