The Rhetorical analysis of a documentary photograph

This article consists of three sections. In the first section, the theoretical foundations of rhetorical analysis as applied to visual messages is explicated. In the second section, the approach is illustrated by means of an example drawn from a photographic essay on streetchildren. In the third se...

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Main Author: Rolf Gaede
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: University of Johannesburg 2022-11-01
Series:Communicare
Subjects:
Online Access:https://journals.uj.ac.za/index.php/jcsa/article/view/1917
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author Rolf Gaede
author_facet Rolf Gaede
author_sort Rolf Gaede
collection DOAJ
description This article consists of three sections. In the first section, the theoretical foundations of rhetorical analysis as applied to visual messages is explicated. In the second section, the approach is illustrated by means of an example drawn from a photographic essay on streetchildren. In the third section, some difficulties with the application of rhetorical analysis to documentary photographs are discussed. It is theorized that straight documentary photographs are essentially open texts and that even though the structural data uncovered in' the course a rhetorical reading might point towards a preferred interpretation, decisions about the author's persuasive intent with the image can only be made if the creative controls of the medium have been employed rhetorically.
format Article
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institution Kabale University
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publishDate 2022-11-01
publisher University of Johannesburg
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spelling doaj-art-64e327cd97c44545a817505ed90678ba2025-01-20T08:48:17ZengUniversity of JohannesburgCommunicare0259-00692957-79502022-11-0116210.36615/jcsa.v16i2.1917The Rhetorical analysis of a documentary photographRolf Gaede0https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7624-1271University of the Free State This article consists of three sections. In the first section, the theoretical foundations of rhetorical analysis as applied to visual messages is explicated. In the second section, the approach is illustrated by means of an example drawn from a photographic essay on streetchildren. In the third section, some difficulties with the application of rhetorical analysis to documentary photographs are discussed. It is theorized that straight documentary photographs are essentially open texts and that even though the structural data uncovered in' the course a rhetorical reading might point towards a preferred interpretation, decisions about the author's persuasive intent with the image can only be made if the creative controls of the medium have been employed rhetorically. https://journals.uj.ac.za/index.php/jcsa/article/view/1917e theoretical foundationsrhetorical analysisvisual messagesphotographic essaydocumentary photographsopen texts
spellingShingle Rolf Gaede
The Rhetorical analysis of a documentary photograph
Communicare
e theoretical foundations
rhetorical analysis
visual messages
photographic essay
documentary photographs
open texts
title The Rhetorical analysis of a documentary photograph
title_full The Rhetorical analysis of a documentary photograph
title_fullStr The Rhetorical analysis of a documentary photograph
title_full_unstemmed The Rhetorical analysis of a documentary photograph
title_short The Rhetorical analysis of a documentary photograph
title_sort rhetorical analysis of a documentary photograph
topic e theoretical foundations
rhetorical analysis
visual messages
photographic essay
documentary photographs
open texts
url https://journals.uj.ac.za/index.php/jcsa/article/view/1917
work_keys_str_mv AT rolfgaede therhetoricalanalysisofadocumentaryphotograph
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