New Cultural Models in the Context of Family Issues from the Perspective of the World Press Photo Awards

Abstract

RESEARCH OBJECTIVE: The aim of the article is to determine how photography shows issues related to new cultural models in public media, primarily in relation to family issues, which at the level of verbal messages is contested or manipulated.

THE RESEARCH PROBLEM AND METHODS: When posing the problem, it became necessary to answer the question whether in photography understood as a medium of information, the reported issues are shaped similarly to verbal messages. Image semiotics tools were used, taking into account two types of analysis: semantic and syntactic.

THE PROCESS OF ARGUMENTATION: The research, whose effects were included in the article, focused on the analysis of the awarded works in the World Press Photo competition, the most prestigious for the world of media. The article contains the results of analyzes of works subject to assessment by the World Press Photo jury in 2015, which turned out to be the most expressive reflection of the tensions in the media regarding the topic taken up. The analysis shows how manipulation is carried out during the evaluation of photos sent to the competition.

RESEARCH RESULTS: The analysis shows that the presentation in the public media of new cultural models through photography takes place in violation of the rules adopted so far as standard. Although in press photography, at the level of making assessments, efforts are made to de-grade the image of the family, at the level of the image itself, the image of the family is not subject to degradation.

CONCLUSIONS, INNOVATIONS, AND RECOMMENDATIONS: New cultural models are presented in the media according to the rules of unfair promotion, which is done at the expense of lowering the rank of other socially relevant issues. However, press photography is more resistant to manipulation than verbal messages.