Denotation And Connotation In Photography

One hundred and ninety years ago, a French lithographer by the name Nicéphore Niépce successfully took the world’s first surviving photograph. Soon after, others found ways to improve the techniques used for photography and pictures of people, places, and events were taken for publishing and safekeeping. Many of the images captured from the past are often reproduced and used to create and illustrate history in ways that words cannot. Let’s say a man takes a photograph of the construction of a house in 1875. This photograph was reproduced in newspapers at its time and is now featured in your history textbook. You can read the text describing the construction of the house, however, you have no hard evidence of it. The photograph in your textbook
The denotative aspects are very obvious and literal as they are what is visually seen. Connotative aspects on the other hand go much deeper into the photograph, analyzing cultural, social, and historical significance and eliciting ideological and emotional meaning to the literal meaning(s) of the signs.
In order to demonstrate how denotation and connotation can “create” renditions of history, I have chosen three photos, displayed below, from the Los Angeles Times Photographic Archive ca. 1918-1990 to do so. All three pictures are focused on a community in Los Angeles known as Chinatown. As someone who was born and raised in there, viewing these photos show the changes and similarities in how people interact in the community
The denotative aspects of Abercrombie, eating Pidan, 1946 feature a Caucasian man with a bib stares at the piece of duck between his chopsticks. His expression suggests that he is either bewildered or disgusted while the smile on the Asian man next to him indicates his pleasure in introducing this Chinese delicacy to the Caucasian man. As ironic as it is, the men are eating duck eggs as ducklings roam freely on the table. In Removing Quan Yin, 1955, a Chinese woman embraces the statue of Quan Yin (goddess) as a man is removing it from the fountain. Her gesture and the fact that she is wiping her tears imply the importance of the effigy to her and most likely to her culture. The man who is removing the statue is smiling. Chinatown residents pray, 1950 exhibits four elderly Chinese men with their heads bowed down and hands in prayer. The title of the photograph, the sign it stating “Help Save Chinese Temple We Need Your Support”, and the desperation displayed in their body language suggest that the temple holds high significance to them. Furthermore, their attire hints that they could be