Visual Rhetorical Analysis

Visual Rhetorical Analysis Small Assignment I

Reflection

At the start of this assignment, I was very nervous about meeting the word count. I was not really sure how to write an entire essay about just one picture. However, after much research, I did not even think about the word count, I just kept writing. This assignment was able to teach me about the importance of the story behind an image. In this case, I was able to discuss the connection between the Kodak Girl campaign and the women’s suffrage movement. This analysis allowed me to understand the nature of the image, and why the artist created and published it the way it was done. Using the different components of photography, I was able to pinpoint certain ideas the artist did to catch our attention. For example, learning about the vectors of attention was really important for this image. The column-like structure in the image points us upwards in the direction of the woman. The branches are also able to do the same. Small details like this help us understand what the artist want’s the viewer to look at.

 The most difficult part of writing the analysis was finding relevant, and reliable images to add to my collection. I was able to find images but I was not able to prove their reliability, which is why I had a hard time with this process. However, once I found the right resources, it became a bit easier. Once my work was reviewed for revisions I was able to catch the mistakes made in my writing. I noticed I had to work on the hook in my introduction, and the conclusion. I believe I was most confident when I discussed the Kodak Girl campaign in my analysis. This was what caught my attention, which is why it is what I researched the most. I was able to find much new information that helped me explain how it was relevant to the image. I believe these analysis skills can become useful to me in the future because they will make me ask more questions before I come up with my conclusions about the image. I will be able to look deeper into the meaning behind an image and the different components that make up the image.

Allan Gilbert

1905

Kodak Simplicity

 

A Visual Rhetorical Analysis of “Kodak Simplicity”

From your TV to your phone, and to your magazines at the doctor’s office, advertisements are seen everywhere! With the right photograph, you can capture the attention of millions, which is why it plays such an essential part in advertising. The evolution of advertising has influenced the way society runs today, for example, people are influenced and mold their lives around what they see on the internet. For this reason, advertising’s impact on our culture is very complex. One major example is the Kodak Girl campaign made by Kodak in the early 1900s which impacted many women across the United States. I analyzed “Kodak Simplicity”, which was an advertisement for Kodak products. This was a painted drawing of a woman touring around Japan, taking pictures with her Kodak camera. The image was created by Charles Allan Gilbert in 1905 for the Kodak Girl campaign, which had a big significance during the women’s suffrage movement. Charles Allan Gilbert was a famous illustrator best known for his artwork titled “All Is Vanity”(1892). “All Is Vanity” illustrated here to the right, is a beautiful piece of artwork that shows a woman looking at her reflection through a vanity mirror. However, the outline of the vanity and the woman create a skull-like image which can remind the viewer that something we cherish like our looks may not last forever (Morales and Macpherson).  In addition, he has also created artwork for many different magazine catalogs including Kodak.  This “Kodak Simplicity” advertisement was seen by many women who wanted to feel the same sense of freedom the woman in the advertisement felt. They then became influenced by seeing this advertisement everywhere and purchased Kodak cameras and products. 

This photo of the Kodak girl consists of a woman touring in “Fair Japan” (Gilbert, 1905). The woman is nicely dressed which shows her importance. She is seen traveling in a rickshaw pulled by a Japanese man, and making memories by taking photos with her Kodak camera. Gilbert’s use of proximity in this image captures both people close to each other, which ultimately makes them the center of the composition. In addition, although Gilbert produced this illustration, the Kodak production team also included the ad. This created a frame within a frame. Therefore, if we look at the image, it contains an illustration along with words. However, Kodak has done this for a purpose because our eyes are immediately drawn to the illustration first which is able to send a message without having to read anything first. Another concept that draws our eyes to the woman, is vectors of attention. The small column-like structure on the left points us upwards. The tree also acts as a vector because it branches out to the right of the image, which leads us to the woman. Both of these vectors of attention are meant to lead our eyes up, and to the woman in the carriage because of how much importance she holds. Her placement at the top shows us her power and importance.  While looking at the woman, we also notice what she is holding, which is the camera she is promoting. The woman in the photo is one of the many, infamous, Kodak girls used for the campaign. Above, is another example of a Kodak Girl. This advertisement was released in 1910 and displays a young, independent, adventurous woman which soon became the icon of Kodak (“The Kodak Girl”).

The Kodak company knew exactly what they were doing when they started the Kodak Girl campaign. This campaign was introduced at the Kodak fair in 1893 (Doss) which was in the middle of the women’s suffrage movement. From the late 1800s to the early 1900s women, these advertisement photos often showed women using Kodak products independently. At the time, women were still not seen as fully independent people. Instead, women were kept inside to do all the housework. This included all the cooking, cleaning, sewing, and raising of children. The Kodak Girl Campaign was aimed towards women because they were slowly gaining more freedom. On 18 August 1920, women were finally given the right to vote and allowed women to feel more powerful than ever. These advertisements helped make them feel important and like they had a sense of value in the world. That is why this collection of images is very important. In the photos, women are seen all by themselves and able to do something outside of the house. The Kodak girl was the person every woman wanted to be. The Kodak girl displayed a young, strong, powerful, independent, woman who was able to travel and make memories she could cherish forever with her Kodak camera.  Kodak used this method to make women feel powerful. When a woman walked into a convenience store and saw these posters they thought to themselves, “I want to be just like her” and purchased the camera. 

Another big concept that went into this campaign, was to make anyone feel like they could be a photographer. Kodak found a way to make these cameras more accessible to the average family. Not only that, but they also made these cameras much more portable (“The Kodak Girl”).  Therefore, they wanted anyone to feel like they could use their products. Kodak wanted amateurs to feel like they could take professional pictures just like a skilled photographer. While doing this, they not only advertised women using the products, but children were also seen in these advertisements. As illustrated in the photo above, Kodak used children taking pictures of one another, in their advertisements.  They wanted their advertisements to scream, “so easy even a child can do it!” 

Overall, the “Kodak Simplicity” image was able to serve its purpose. The image was meant to capture the attention of women across the country as they were gaining more independence. The advertisement was able to provide a good representation of the Kodak Girl, the person every woman wanted to be at the time. This image was one of many advertisements Kodak used to empower women during the women’s suffrage movement. The photo was seen by millions and ultimately helped promote Kodak’s products. As women were able to be seen outside of the house without supervision, they fell for these cameras that displayed everything they wanted to be. In addition, they could use the cameras to make memories that would last forever. The artist and Kodak really created something powerful in not only selling their products but also in the women’s suffrage movement. 

Work Cited 

Doss, Erika. “Kodak and the Lens of Nostalgia. Nancy Martha West.” Winterthur Portfolio, vol. 35, no. 4, 2000, pp. 301–305., doi:10.1086/496833. 

Gilbert, Allan. All is Vanity 1892. Illusions Index, https://www.illusionsindex.org/i/all-is-vanity

“Kodak Girl” ad for Kodak cameras. c.1910. Artstor, library.artstor.org/asset/ARTSTOR_103_41822001182474 

“Let the Children Kodak”. 1900. Artstor, library.artstor.org/asset/ARTSTOR_103_41822001148830

Morales, R. and Macpherson, F. (July 2017), “All Is Vanity” in F. Macpherson (ed.), The Illusions Index. Retrieved from https://www.illusionsindex.org/i/all-is-vanity.

“The Kodak Girl: Women in Kodak Advertising.” Ryerson Archives & Special Collections, Ryerson University. 27 May 2020, library.ryerson.ca/asc/2013/10/the-kodak-girl-women-in-kodak-advertising/.