Armani Advert Image Analysis

Armani Print Advert 

Victoria & David Beckham 

Image Analysis 

(Jonathan Taylor)

This advert-photograph displays and denotes 2 human-models, 1 presumably male and 1 presumably female. Both are shown semi-nude, wearing only the brand’s underwear. The models are in fact 2 globally famous celebrities, aswell as a married couple, David and Victoria Beckham. Both models are signified on the image, but a signifier is also used, where the names are shown in text, maybe as a reminder as to who they are if the image is unclear.

Firstly, I analysed the body language of the models and have written my denotations: David is seen lying on what appears to be a bed, his head is tilted slightly towards the camera lense and his eyes are slightly seen looking into the camera lense. David’s left arm is slightly flung over the bed, with his hand reaching back up to the bed so his arm creates an almost triangular shape.

David’s head tilting, corresponding with the shadows of the image, darkens his eyes, creating a dark, mysterious mist to them, creating an almost ‘bad-boy’ image. His eyes are looking directly into the lense, this is to draw the audience in, as you might make ‘eye-contact’ with him, causing you to carry on looking at the image, the idea of staring also gives off this ‘bad-boy’ impression. David’s arm is  flung over the bed, this positioning emphasises his muscular arms, thus connoting masculinity, strength and again, relating to this edgier ‘bad-boy’ image.

Victoria is seen to be sitting on the floor below the bed. Her head is tilted slightly and I also denoted that she appears to be looking away from the camera lense, which is different to David’s focal point in the picture (staring at the camera lense). She is leaning back onto the bed-frame with her arms spread out slightly and one of her legs is up so that the knee-part of her right leg is showing.

The representation of Victoria is unique, in comparison to a lot of female lingerie-model photos, in a sense that Victoria doesn't appear very/strongly feminine. In fact, the photograph seems to play along to this idea that Victoria is more ‘masculine’ and based on stereotypes, contains more masculinity, with really the only obvious strongly female element in the photo, being her breasts. Her hair is cut short, her shoulder/collar-bones are very prominent and her strong accented jaw-line is strongly defined; all these edgy, darker, rawer looks give a stronger vision of masculine than feminine. The focus on the breasts could also be linked to how much they want to put focus on the underwear she is wearing, as her Armani branded bra appears at the only really obviously female element of the photo. The masculinity portrayal is almost definitely to connote and reflect the more modern, realistic and non-misogynistic images of women, where they can cut their hair short etc. and they don’t have to conform to gender-norms, they can carve their own style, be independent. So by using a neutral ground of masculinity to represent strength for both the male and female genders, who are wearing the brands in the photo, the brand is trying to seem more accessible, empathetic, modern and moral.

I denoted that the use of colour (or lack of) along with shadows and lighting is important in the picture, due to the heavy emphasis on the black/white shades used throughout the picture. The picture, during editing seems to have been boosted in level of Contrast and possibly sharpness. The seemingly heavy amount of shadows and lighting physically made with actual lights/shading effects in the photograph location, when actually taking the original pre-editing photograph will have also boosted the colour contrast between the black/white colourings, where the lighting will have boosted the amount of white colour and shadows boosted the amount of black. This happens due to some of the lighter/darker shades of grey, becoming altered into the nearest shade, so white/black, so shortening the colour/shade palette down.

The removal of colour, having the photo in black and white automatically connotes elements of class, sophistication and professionalism, due to the nostalgic quality colourless photos can have, as they can be seen to replicate old photographs from the 1950’s etc Or they may be seen to be much more dramatic, due their lack of colour, so your eyes are drawn to other elements of the photograph, such as the shading of light/dark and the various shapes within the image. The editing with contrast and sharpness relates back to this, the dark elements create a dark, broody, masculine and more sexual tone than if the contrast hadn't been altered, due to quality of white/black and the symbolic connotations of these colours, e.g. black = dark, cool, classy.

The use of cropping, aswell as the use of foreground/background imagery focus is incorporated into this image. The photograph could easily have been cropped from a full photograph, as the picture seems to perfectly fit (maybe too perfectly for an original photograph shot) around where the two models body’s end/start. The foreground is more emphasised upon, with almost no real foreground at all, besides the presence of a bed.

A narrative suggestion is shown here. The idea of the 3 objects in the picture being David, Victoria and the bed, automatically relates to intimate relations, which can be seen as both sexual and also romantic. The narrative created goes along the line of both models, preparing/waiting before they initiate sex/something else physically romantic. The lack of clothing means they have ‘stripped’ off and so might continue doing so. The bed being kept in is an obvious symbol of their young, happy and sexually active relationship, which is said to be key to a healthy mating-relationship. The brand will be targeting in a similar market and age-range to these models, so use a glamourised version to make people of this age-range and target market feel special..

Both models, as previously mentioned are hugely famous celebrities, both in their own right and even as a couple. The use of celebrities rather than your ‘average-Joes’ or even other models, is due to their popularity, pre-existing fan-bases and wide-spread appeal. The celebrity status is used to connote power and wealth within the brand, because ‘if celebrities wear it, then it must be of a good quality’. There is definitely an element of sex-appeal being used in the image. The semi-nudity, wearing only underwear is almost a ‘revealing’ of the person underneath the celebrity, but still keeping their ‘modesty’ retained; this connotes status, prowess and provocative, giving you something to be shocked, confused or even aroused by, to draw attention to the advert, how these high-profile celebrities are almost baring all. However, the image is only cleverly and subtly sexual as opposed to overtly, by showing full nudity and them quite lying on a bed in some form of embrace etc. as to not cause ethical issues, affecting children and such due to inappropriate content being displayed publicly, where the adverts would most likely be on billboards in public places. This would reduce the negative impact on the audience (and so the audience's reception) that was not targeted during this advertising campaign, while still being most effective by being shown publicly around public places.