ФОТОГРАФИЯ В МЕДИАТЕКСТЕ: ИДЕОЛОГИЗАЦИЯ СОЗНАНИЯ, МОРАЛЬНАЯ УСТАНОВКА ИЛИ ИНФОРМАЦИОННАЯ МОДЕЛЬ

Introduction

For almost two centuries, photography has been used in many areas of human activity. The functional settings of a photograph of a particular sphere have a number of differences. The function of artistic photography is the aesthetic effect on a person, photography in science is designed to capture an image invisible to the human eye, and photography in journalism seeks objectivity, nevertheless influencing public opinion through ideological and moral attitudes adopted in a particular society.

Methods

In the proposed work, we examined mainly the point of view of three researchers on the problem of interest to us and tried to conduct a comparative analysis.

At a certain moment in the development of media production, with the beginning of data visualization processes, the illustration as a picture was divided into two autonomous areas: photography and hand-drawn picture. As soon as it becomes possible to print a photo, it strongly tightens the drawn picture. In the modern edition (selection of pictures and illustrations) is often completely replaced by the photo editing process (production and organization of shooting, selection and editing of photographs for publication). The influence of photography on the formation of the visual discourse of social journalism has recently increased greatly.

The theory of interpretation of photography has been developed for quite some time, classical versions include the works of V. Benjamin, R. Bart, E. Cassirer, K. Levy-Strauss.

With the advent of visual elements in the print press, works on this topic from a linguistic point of view began to be of particular interest. So Roland Bart, a French philosopher and semiotic linguist, owns several works at once [2]. He, a prominent representative of structuralism, studied various spheres of culture as semiotic systems, studied the problem of relations between language and power.

For example, "Camera lucida. The photograph commentary "is entirely devoted to photography as one of the illustrative elements. Bart wondered what significant feature the photograph stands out from the entire set of images. The researcher was also concerned with the classification and systematization of photographs, as a result of which the philosopher built his own phenomenology, introducing the concepts of Studium and Punctum. Studium denotes a cultural, linguistic and political interpretation of photography, Punctum is a personal emotional meaning that allows you to establish a direct connection with the photo.

But before interpreting the meaning of the image, Bart wanted to understand how the picture gets this meaning, where it ends, and, if it ends, what is behind this end.

Roland Bart distinguished between three messages that a photo can transmit.

The first message ̶ linguistic. In most cases, it is twice: one denotative, another connotative.

The second message ̶ encoded iconic. It refers to the symbolism of the picture (connotation).

The third message ̶ a non-encoded iconic message that refers to a literal message (denotation).

Distinguishing one iconic message of a photo from another is quite difficult, if only because we never meet a literal picture in pure form. A denotative iconic message is a residual message, this is what remains after excluding all connotative messages.

Since the photo is made mechanically, it  is a message without code. Although the photographer determines the subject, center of attention and angle of view, he cannot interfere with the object of photography, thus preserving its "naturalness."

Photography is considered an objective snapshot, however, it never gives the impression of existence in real time, in the photo we are spatially present in the temporal past, that is, Here and Now it is transformed into There and Then. Bart calls this connection "real invalidity."

The picture can be read differently by the individual depending on his practical, national, cultural and aesthetic knowledge. Only after an extensive inventory and connection of typical connotations can one come to a common denominator, which, according to Bart, is an ideology. Ideology under certain circumstances, in turn, is relevant only for a certain society and a specific historical situation. In addition, the presence of denotative or connotative messages are considered markers of either simple or ideologized text.

R. Barth in his work "Mythology" developed his own theory of myth, on the basis of which he studied various communicative phenomena. Roland Barth called the myth a secondary semiotic system, which is based on the transformation of what is meant in the primary semiotic system into what is meant in the secondary. The scientist believed that the myth is a special system, the peculiarity of which is that it is created on the basis of a certain sequence of signs that exists long before it. The Bart sign is the result of an association, concept and acoustic image, it is this sign of the first system that becomes meaning in the second system.

For example, in one of the issues of magazine «Der Spiegel» in 2007, an article «Der Konzern des Zaren» («The Tsar's Group») was published on the architectural project for the construction of the Gazprom Tower in St. Petersburg. In the primary semiological system, this is simply a structure, in the secondary it symbolizes a whole concern and even part of the possessions of the "Russian Tsar Putin," if we relate the illustration to the title of the article. Thus, the myth is embodied, in Bart's terminology, about the greatness and omnipotence of the President of Russia. Another example, the article «Tief im kolonialen Sumрf» («Deep in the colonial swamp») is illustrated by a photograph in which two Africans carry a German officer on their shoulders through a swamp. This is actually the first semiotic system, a direct denotative photo message. The secondary semiotic system is associated with the verbal title of the article and demonstrates how deeply Germany is «bogged down» in the African colonies.

As for ideology, for R. Barth, this is nothing more than the false consciousness of the individual, which replaces the true motives with false ones. Ideology is a kind of value filter formed by society, located between the individual and the outside world and determining his attitude to this world. Modern semiology should, according to a French researcher, study ideology and understand its structural foundations, and also try to reveal the mechanism of the influence of ideological signs on society. To offset the ideological influence of R. Barth, «a zero level of writing»  was proposed, implemented through the rejection of the use of ideologized languages, that is, the less consciousness are contained in the language and the more denotative messages, the better.

The essential filling of myths proposed by R. Barth is relatively free. According to this approach, myth can be understood as a separate element of the text, as well as the structural relationship of several elements.

Bart opposes the «singularity» of reading the text and finality in interpreting its meaning. The text, according to his concept, is a kind of pleasure, and reading ̶ something like a walk. The perception of the text is determined by the level of the reader and his readiness to read and interpret the main five codes woven into the fabric of the text, the ̶ of the Empiria code, the Personality code, the Knowledge code, the Truth code and the Character code.

In the views of Roland Barth, in our opinion, there are several contradictory statements. The content of the media text, whether verbal or visual, always has many connotations, and therefore, according to French semiotics, is ideologized. If the journalist adheres to the «zero level of writing», then the material is likely to lose its appeal to the target audience. In addition, the text "zero" in terms of connotations just does not need interpretation and ceases to be a pleasure.

As for the theory of the Roland Barth myth, it, in our opinion, is similar to the concept of metaphor, which is widely used in the design of media text, both verbally and visually.

At the origins of many thoughts about photography are the works of Susan Sontag, an American writer, literary, artistic, theatrical film critic [5]. She introduced the concept of «photo dependence». Photography, according to Sontag, is true in the subthesis, which makes the photograph convincing and interesting, but in the photographer's work the same deals are made between truth and fiction (and sometimes consciousness) as in any art of art. Even when photographers are particularly concerned about the image of reality, they are still obedient to the false imperatives of their own taste and concepts, and often fulfill the order of their editorial staff or a private person.

Susan Sontag, unlike Roland Bart, was interested not only in the ideology that photography can broadcast. The American researcher was more interested in the moral position that photography cannot create, but is able to reinforce or contribute to its birth.

Sontag considers photography more competitive in comparison with television, since the photo, in her opinion, is remembered better than moving images on TV, because they are subtle forms of time, not flow. Television, according to the researcher, is a poorly sorted sequence of images, and each cancels the previous one. A photo is a privileged moment turned into a light object that can be stored and viewed again. Almost any event itself can deserve a photograph of photography, but what its content is, nevertheless, the ideology decides. Whether photographs will have a moral impact depends on the presence of an appropriate political understanding of the situation. According to Sontag, nothing can be understood from the photo, it opens the viewer only a «surface», suggests thinking, feeling. The photographs themselves cannot explain anything, but tirelessly call for grandfather, speculation, the work of imagination.

The camera, according to Sontag, is always silent more than it opens. The limitations of photographic knowledge about the world are such that it can break the consciousness, but in the end it will never be ethical or political knowledge. The very nonsense of what is hypothetically clear from the photographs, and the composition is their attractiveness and seductiveness.

Herbert Marshall McLuhan in the book Understanding Media, developing his thoughts on photography, speaks of hot and cold means of communication [4]. Hot means of communication are characterized by a low degree of audience participation (for example, radio, photography), and cold, respectively, a high degree of participation (for example, telephone). The photograph, according to the scientist, is a hot means of communication, which has a «high degree of certainty», since it gives enough visual information. In this case, high certainty is a data-filled state. It follows from this statement that photography gives us an idea of ​ ​ the event, leaving no room for the reader or viewer to interpret the event differently. Photography is such a visual form that gives an initial idea of ​ ​ the event, conveys its atmosphere, allows you to draw attention to the material, «hook» the reader.

Here, we believe, the points of view of McLuhan and Sontag are similar, since they are sure that the photo provides only primary, superficial information, further interpretation remains with the recipient. Here one cannot but recall the opinion of Bart, who opposed the "unity" of reading the text and finality in interpreting its meaning.

Domestic researcher Vladimir Ageev proposes to consider the photo as a semiotic information model [1]. The scientist believes that the term «information model» should be used to refer to precisely sign models, that is, descriptions of facts, events, phenomena using texts compiled in natural language or in one of the artificial, formal ones. Natural (spoken) language is a powerful means of expressing thoughts, ideas. With it, you can tell about almost everything that happens or can happen in nature and society. In addition to natural, spoken, language, there are many other sign systems by which people convey to each other information about various events, facts, phenomena. Also schemes, drawings, drawings, photos, soundtracks, videos belong to information models. In describing facts and phenomena, various formal languages ​ ​ and recording systems are widely used.

Information models, according to V. Ageev, can be classified according to many parameters. If we take as a basis the way of presenting data and the type of sign systems used, then various information models include: texts in natural languages, texts in formal languages, graphics, diagrams, photographs, films.

It should be noted that there are often mixed types of information models in which different types of sign systems are used. In this vein, the concept of "creolized media text" can be considered as a mixed-type information model, since any text, including media text, has undeniable informativity, and the creolized text contains at least two semiotic (sign) systems - natural/verbal language and visual.

Conclusion

Photography, appearing in the 19th century, has reliably established itself not only as an element of art and science, but also as an integral part of journalism, and in no way inferior to television or booming digital technologies. The problem of  interpreting the content of the photographic message occupied and will occupy the minds of many researchers, especially since in modern journalism photography is not just one of the illustrative elements of the media text, but a truly full-fledged part of it, which can be included in the navigation mechanism for the perception of material [3].