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1. INTRODUCTION
As a photographer working in the advertising industry, it is my job to make products
look their best. Whether photographing a new range of kitchen appliances, or
something aimed towards the industrial market, clients want their products to appear
flawless, well designed and desirable. The desire or motivation behind the decision
making of a person purchasing a product has always been one of my key interests.
Thus the relationship between photographer and the viewer plays an important role,
as well as the role of the photographer in the viewer's purchasing behaviour. This is
what motivated me to research in the field of product advertising photography.
This research project began with the goal of investigating the processes behind;
What motivates the viewer to purchase the product they see advertised. The
research project developed into a proposal for a different approach to advertising. I
have termed this as the 'ecological approach' to product advertising photography
which is one of the biggest influences on this the core theme of this research paper.
The ecological approach is not vastly different from the current models, but provides
an interesting perspective on emerging advertising media by contextualising
advertising photography in an ecological sense. That is to say, this research paper
will use the following definition for ecology: a system of interconnected elements that
are self-sustaining and self-regulating. This system in advertising photography
includes stylistic elements: choice of colour, lighting, styling as well as the persons
who create the artwork and those who view it.
Advertising techniques have for the most part focussed very strongly on brand
identity (Ogilvy 1983:15). It was believed by David Ogilvy (co-founder of the very
successful Ogilvy & Mather advertising agency) that creating a consistent brand
identity with 'personality' will attract consumers. This strategy has worked very well
seeing as Ogilvy & Mather is ranked as the world's most effective advertising agency
(2012 Effie Effectiveness Index: Overview 2012).
Much of Ogilvy's principles are employed by the firm today, but throughout his book,
Ogilvy on Advertising (1983), there is a definite lack of discussion on the viewer
themselves. From an academic point of view, the role of the viewer in advertising
photography is an active area of debate. Cowley & Janus (2004) for example noted
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that viewers can have the memory of their experiences with a product altered by the
advertising theiry view following their interaction with it. It was in this debate that I
wanted to contribute to in some way. Based on the desire for a more complete
understanding of the role of product photography in the advertising process, I turned
to the work of Anne-Marie Barry.
Barry (2005) developed what is called Perception Theory, which investigated the
processes occurring in the viewer's brain while being exposed to visual stimuli. Her
research indicated that the viewer could be affected by visual stimuli to a very great
extent, often on the unconscious level. As a product photographer this field of study
was directly relevant to my career, and was something I wanted to investigate
further.
Throughout this time one researcher's work was of particular relevance to the
research paper. Evan Thompson wrote on the philosophy of perception in his book
Colour Vision: A Study in the Cognitive Science and the Philosophy of Perception
(1995). HTherein he discussed his research on colour vision; and the implications
he drew from that could inform the this research paper's discussion on product
advertising photography. At first Thompson's work was only a small component of
the research, but as the project took form - his work increased in influence.
Thompson (1995: 216) proposed the concept of an "eEcological approach to vision".
Thompson's ecological approach has become the foundation of my own approach to
advertising photography, both in my every-day working life and in the practical
component for this research project. Although Thompson spoke extensively on
colour vision in his own work, this research paper will not take the same focus.
Although most humans have full colour vision, this research paper will also not place
emphasis on that fact.
The influence of Thompson has led to the final version of the research question:
hHow can an ecological approach to vision inform product advertising photography?
This question became the fuel which drove my further research into the field, and
contextualised what I found in my reading.
Thompson,witIn his book Colour Vision (1995), Thompson discusses and
dissectscompares the theories of two different writers: J.J. Gibson and D. Marr.
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Gibson. TheyWhile Gibson was convinced the world was perceived through a 'direct
pickup' of visual (In: Marr 2002:252) information., Marr was of the opinion that visual
information was processed in the same manner as computers process instructions
(Marr 2002:250).
ThisGibson argued that (1986:147- 169) information is not mediated by the visual
system, instead the information is retrieved directly from the visual stimuli. Gibson
was strongly criticised by his peers for these claims, but in spite of that, much of his
research was fundamental to the field of vision. Marr was in much the same position,
his idea of computational vision was one of the early theories to consider the visual
system in such a way (In: Thompson 1995:234). Marr theorized that the brain
processes visual information in a similar way as a computer does: with processes,
representations and algorithms (2002:243 - 246). Marr's theories however did not
fully explain the workings of the visual cortex when he suggested the visual system
operates in an entirely linear fashion, independent of the rest of the body.
Thompson found certain components of Gibson and Marr's work to be of relevance,
and used both as the foundation for his own ecological approach (a term he
borrowed from Gibson). Thompson's approach hasd relevance to the field of product
advertising photography. His work suggests a new way of looking at photography,
and the process by which it is employed in product advertising.
This is because the photographic process, up until the point of capture, is an entirely
still process. Photographs captured by the camera are flat, two-dimensional
representations. For much of the camera's history the medium on which these
images were produced was also a two-dimensional representation: photographs.
Advertising doctrine such as that from David Ogilvy in his book Ogilvy on Advertising
(1983) baseis much of his research on that principle. However, within the last few
decades technologies have emerged which allow photographs to be reproduced in
many different ways. It is these mediums that are of interest to this study. In order to
discuss these more 'dynamic' means of displaying photographs, a 'theoretical lens'
needs to be equipped that can encompass this dynamism. Such aThis 'lens' can be
constructed through an investigation and discussion on several theorists work in the
field of visual studies. The insight gained from this discussion can then be applied to
artefacts from the product photography industry in order to learn more about the field
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of photography. The goal of this research paper is to illustrate that an ecological
approach to vision can achieve this, and to discuss what such an investigation might
reveal about the interaction between the viewer and the image.
Within the next section, the relevant theories are discussed. Through this, an
understanding of the necessary theoretical framework will conveyed. This should
familiarise the reader with the work of theorists such as Thompson, Gibson, Marr,
Barry, LeDoux and Pinker. These theorists have been a significant influence in the
construction of the theoretical framework, referred to as thethe 'lens' in
abovementioned . Their work in the field of visual studies forms the core of this
paper. Thompson's work on an active-subject approach to vision is discussed as well
as Barry's work on the significance of emotions in the decision-making process.
After the theoretical section has been put into place, several artefacts will be
analysed according to the constructed framework. These artefacts were chosen from
the watch brand TAG-Heuer's more recent advertising campaigns. TAG-Heuer was
chosen for its success in the market, making it an ideal candidate for analysing the
photographic advertising techniques the brand employs. The artefacts are three
images taken from various campaigns. They are employed in different ways: The
first is a billboard image, while the other forms part of an editoriala billboard for
instance. Despite this fact the essence of the medium through which they are
represented does not change; the images remain still. The artefacts will be analysed
individually, with a different emphasis on the analysis each time. The first image will
be analysed in order to gain insight into the technical aspects of photography: how
choices such as light, styling, colour grading and so on can be viewed in an
ecological context. The second image will be analysed for insight into the general
field of photography. More specifically, how does the audience, the photographer,
the marketers and the brand function in an ecological context? Lastly, the role of the
image in an ecology must be analyzed in a fairly direct way. For example: what is the
relationship between a viewer, with their ecologically-driven perceptual system, and
a two dimensional, static image?
The chapters therefore can be summarized:
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Theoretical overview chapter: a discussion and exploration on the study of visual
perception, including Thompson's work on colour vision, Barry's work on perception
theory and LeDoux's work on the impact of emotion on decision-making.
Analysis chapter: three artefacts from the TAG-Heuer campaigns in 2011 and 2012
will be analysed according to the principles discussed in the previous chapter.
Elements of the images will be discussed such as colour and styling, as well as
discussing the role of the photographer or the viewer themselves.
Theoretical suggestion chapter: in this chapter the work covered in the previous
sections is used to discuss key insights into the field of advertising photography. A
discussion on the relationship between the viewer and the image as well as the role
of emotion in the decision making process takes place.
This paper hopes to provide an additional insight into the field of product advertising
photography. The industry has developed new mediums through which to represent
its imagery, and with this change, requires a new perspective. It is the aim of this
research project to provide a fresh perspective, a perspective that acknowledges the
dynamism of the viewer. The following chapters investigate and argue for such a
new approach, an ecological approach.