Image has had definitely a powerful effect, in establishing a visual culture and it has been overused, over centuries, politically to manipulate public perception and to set norms and standards, by political and capitalist economical administrations. Through the notion of representation, image has helped the establishment of the culture industry. In counter point artists have used the same medium to effect their audience, by delivering messages, emphasizing certain social and/or political issues, and exposing them to some realities. Image has also been a tool to document realities and events that are inaccessible to general public. Taking these notions further, because of the technological advances of the modern world, image has gained a new meaning and its use and impact have been moved into a new level.
Image, Culture Industry and Propaganda;
Image has always been culture Industry’s major tool in manipulating general public, and establishing a culture that encourages consumption and the empowerment of capital and power structures.
The term “Culture industry” was first used by Max Horkheimer and Theodor Adorno in their book, “The Dialectic of Enlightenment.” They expressed the modern culture as a standardized and uniform system that views the mass or rather consumers as only numbers and statistics and tends to force them towards passivity. Quoting Horkheimer and Adorno:
Culture now impresses the same stamp on everything. Films, radio and magazines make up a system, which is uniformed as whole and in every part. Even the aesthetic activities of political opposites are one in their enthusiastic obedience to the rhythm of iron system. (71)
Therefore, one of the key features of the culture industry is producing an illusion of variety and choice for the consumer, when in fact the perfunctorily distinguished products prove to be all alike in the end. All products are manufactured under a formalized procedure, which its mere purpose is the moral and financial benefit of the capital. An example, which explains such an idea well, would be Hollywood, where movies follow the same structure. Although at first they may seem different in content, but in fact they are identical to an extent where from the beginning of the film, it is quite obvious how the film will end and who will be rewarded or punished. Each movie is produced under the investment of the major corporations and thus the financial profits of the movie overwhelm its artistic values.
In culture industry “Image” plays a significant role in establishing power structure or rather Capital’s desired culture. The two of the most affective strategies employed, in which the use of Image is at its core are: propaganda and advertisement.
Political groups and power structures have always used propaganda as a key apparatus in fulfilling their objectives. According to Noam Chomsky:
When you can't control people by force, you have to control what people think, and the standard way to do this is via propaganda (manufacture of consent, creation of necessary illusions), marginalizing the general public or reducing them to apathy of some fashion. (1992)
Through the images that the power structure mediates, and also through imposing control over what is being produced and published, the general public is directed in a path, more likely in the benefit of such power structures.
President Bush and his administration are very well aware of the power of Images in establishing an impression of strength and resolve. Quoting Kenneth T. Walsh: “Throughout the past four years, the president's handlers have surrounded him with the kind of visuals that the camera finds irresistible.”(12/5/04) Patriotic scenes including president with the American flag, children, soldiers and etc. were mainly the center of photographers’ interest and were widely mediated. There were some iconic photographs, which were even key points in projecting Bush and his administrations’ patriotic image. One would be the photograph of Bush standing on the top of the debris of the world trade center, surrounded by police and firefighters, and giving a speech through a bullhorn; an image which portraits a strong authoritative representation of him. Another example would be the photograph of Condoleezza Rice Playing Piano with a string quartet.
Image, Culture Industry and Propaganda;
Image has always been culture Industry’s major tool in manipulating general public, and establishing a culture that encourages consumption and the empowerment of capital and power structures.
The term “Culture industry” was first used by Max Horkheimer and Theodor Adorno in their book, “The Dialectic of Enlightenment.” They expressed the modern culture as a standardized and uniform system that views the mass or rather consumers as only numbers and statistics and tends to force them towards passivity. Quoting Horkheimer and Adorno:
Culture now impresses the same stamp on everything. Films, radio and magazines make up a system, which is uniformed as whole and in every part. Even the aesthetic activities of political opposites are one in their enthusiastic obedience to the rhythm of iron system. (71)
Therefore, one of the key features of the culture industry is producing an illusion of variety and choice for the consumer, when in fact the perfunctorily distinguished products prove to be all alike in the end. All products are manufactured under a formalized procedure, which its mere purpose is the moral and financial benefit of the capital. An example, which explains such an idea well, would be Hollywood, where movies follow the same structure. Although at first they may seem different in content, but in fact they are identical to an extent where from the beginning of the film, it is quite obvious how the film will end and who will be rewarded or punished. Each movie is produced under the investment of the major corporations and thus the financial profits of the movie overwhelm its artistic values.
In culture industry “Image” plays a significant role in establishing power structure or rather Capital’s desired culture. The two of the most affective strategies employed, in which the use of Image is at its core are: propaganda and advertisement.
Political groups and power structures have always used propaganda as a key apparatus in fulfilling their objectives. According to Noam Chomsky:
When you can't control people by force, you have to control what people think, and the standard way to do this is via propaganda (manufacture of consent, creation of necessary illusions), marginalizing the general public or reducing them to apathy of some fashion. (1992)
Through the images that the power structure mediates, and also through imposing control over what is being produced and published, the general public is directed in a path, more likely in the benefit of such power structures.
President Bush and his administration are very well aware of the power of Images in establishing an impression of strength and resolve. Quoting Kenneth T. Walsh: “Throughout the past four years, the president's handlers have surrounded him with the kind of visuals that the camera finds irresistible.”(12/5/04) Patriotic scenes including president with the American flag, children, soldiers and etc. were mainly the center of photographers’ interest and were widely mediated. There were some iconic photographs, which were even key points in projecting Bush and his administrations’ patriotic image. One would be the photograph of Bush standing on the top of the debris of the world trade center, surrounded by police and firefighters, and giving a speech through a bullhorn; an image which portraits a strong authoritative representation of him. Another example would be the photograph of Condoleezza Rice Playing Piano with a string quartet.
She in Placed in the center of the photograph, Under the only light source which is in the frame, in the focused point of the picture, wearing a darker cloth comparing to others in the picture. These all together not only attract all the attentions towards her, but also suggest a powerful, intelligent and emotional persona for her.Evidently the idea of propaganda is nothing new. For instance Napoleon Bonaparte, not long after his coupe d’tate in 1799, appointed the famous French painter, Jacques-Louis David to memorialize his crossing of the Alps. Although Napoleon crossed the Alps on a mule and in very exhausting circumstances, David painted him questionably theatrical on a white horse, with a victorious gesture. The reality was so distorted in that painting that the French painter Paul Delaroche decided to challenge David’s painting, by repainting the whole scene. He studied all the evidence of Napoleon’s crossing of the St. Bernard Pass and even visited the place himself, to acquire as much information as possible. Delaroche then painted his version of the “Napoleon crossing the Alps”, which marked a picturesque contrast between the Image Napoleon was delivering and the actual reality. (Walker Art Gallery, 2006)
Advertisement, on the other hand, is a kind of propaganda itself, but it has been mainly utilized by Capital and political economy, in order to manufacture a need for the consumption of commodities, rather than promoting a power, or concealing its missteps.
[…]the mechanical repetition of the same culture product has come to be the same as that of the propaganda slogan. In both cases the insistent demand for effectiveness makes technology into psycho-technology, into a procedure for manipulating men. (Horkheimer and Adorno, 98)
More than half of the images that one sees every day are advertisements, sponsoring goods. Most of them not only try to promote a product, but also a new culture or rather “style” that encourages consumption, and keeps the commercial power on scene.
Apple has spent a large amount of money over past years in order to only manufacture a need for their products, or at least create an illusion of need. It has used any kind of advertisement possible, from bus wrappings to TV commercials, employing the same simple attractive theme, which is a silhouette character on the top of a bright background. By leaving the character anonymous, Apple avoids addressing any specific class or cultural ethnicities, and leaves the decision to the public. By aiming at the general public it has represented a commodity, which could belong to any social class. Quoting Horkhiemer and Adorno: “the freedom is symbolized in various media of the culture industry by arbitrary selection of the average individuals.”(88)
As mentioned several times above, the culture industry’s main objective is to produce a need, to manufacture a consumptive culture, mainly by substituting what is being lived with a “representation.”(Debord, 1) In 1967 Guy Debord introduced the idea of spectacle: “The spectacle is not a collection of images, but a social relationship mediated by images.”(Debord, 4) As Debord describes, the spectacle is a social relationship or rather a culture, which is propagated through Images; the culture that defines the material basis of social life, and advertises commodity as a necessary part of the social power.
By Idolizing celebrities and creating positive, attractive but at the same time inaccessible icons, the ruling economy not only affects society’s objectives, but also at the same time moves away their life into something unreal. The affect of spectacles like Hollywood or Television becomes so fundamental, and changes many of the personal and social ideologies to a degree, that it directly effects the social life and forms it own culture. All the social relationships, even in the most intimate situations, the choice of words, and even the emotional reactions are all affected by the spectacle and tend to become similar to the models that the culture industry provides.( Horkhiemer and Adorno, 100)
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