Semiotic interpretation of an image - Essay Example

With the signs in photos open for interpretation, an observer can be able to appreciate the denotative and connotative signification. The caption that has been provided is a photo of the Olympic event. It captures the moment where the participants involved are awarded with medals after victory in the sports they had participated. When awarding the Olympic participant, the protocol is that the winner is awarded with a gold medal then the first runner up is awarded with silver followed by brass for the second runner up.

After receiving the medals, the next stage involved playing of the national anthem in front of everyone. Only the person who takes the gold is awarded the chance of having his or her country’s national anthem played. From the background of the picture provided, there is a possibility of stating that the event is not a recent one and may have taken place somewhere in the middle 1900s. An aspect that brings out the background of the photo is the ‘black power’ salute that the two of the participants posed.

During the 1960’s, there were many instances where the black Americans fought against what they believed to be racism from the original citizens in the country. From this, it is clear to deduce that the time the Olympic event in the picture is taking place might be the 1968 summer Olympics. This aspect then is possible to award the photo with both the denotative and connotative values (Bathes, 35). There is a connotative value that the ‘black power salute’ poses awards the photo. This value is in the unity of the black Americans.

The two Olympic participants can be said to be sending a message to the other black people. The message here is not only directed to the black Americans but to all the black people all over the world since Olympics is an international event. The first African country to participate in the Olympics was South Africa in the year 1904; this was under the