This image comes from an NSPCC advertising campaign. I believe it is performative for a number of reasons. Firstly, it was created in order to get children to speak up against the cruelty they are receiving at home. Therefore, the image is obviously very emotionally inspiring, the image is close up, the girl is young, and the picture clearly communicates her sadness. This image was created in order to inspire change within our society, and therefore, relating to Bolt's comments, it is performative as it relates to the world we live in and the problems children face. It draws upon a very realistic situation and is performative in that it allows the viewer to react emotionally. However, at the same time as the image being highly realistic, the ring over the mouth presents a metaphor for the child's fear of speaking out. This dramatic aspect of the picture makes it all the more performative and effective. She is physically trapped, as well as mentally.
1 comment:
I agree with Hannah in that this photo can be perceived as a performative one. However i feel that this image, as with all images, needs to be put into its context. To children and teenagers this definately represents a performative image, even more so for those who are abused, yet put this image on the front of a horror film poster and the effect might be different. Whether it is performative is subjective and lies within the eyes of the viewer for every person perceives an image differently.
As for performative images, they are everywhere in our daily lives. Every image has the potential to be performative, yet some are intended to have a performative purpose. For example a fire exit sign needs to be performative. The little white man running towards a door immediately suggests what to do in the event of a fire, and is literally performing an action. This is an obvious example of an image that needs to be performative, and performs an action within the image, where as some images, such as the nspcc advert, are more subtle and more subjective.
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