Posters Throughout History

Hey guys 😊

While reading, I came across the rundown of pro-communist photographer John Hartfield. They talked about what he brought to the table when it came to campaign advertisements. His ability to use common symbols to express subliminal messages is very effective. I read something that said in order to vote communist, you had to vote in ballot 5. He took that seemingly not important detail, and turned it into a big factor for the campaign through simply taking a picture of a hand.
Image result for 1928 die rote fahne
He incorporated effective photography techniques, like capturing the extreme contrast in the shadows of the hand, and stretching the fingers out in a certain way that makes it seem like a command. These two factors can be seen throughout famous posters in history.
Image result for war posters us
I believe these two posters share a few commonalities that made them effective for their different purposes. One subliminal technique they use that keeps their message direct, is keeping the subject in the center of the page. It doesn't leave room for anything else in the frame, and a clean white background behind it keeps our attention. Both have things within the composition coming at you.

As for the poster that I think speaks "HOPE" like Fairey's Obama poster...

Image result for tommie smith and john carlos
I don't know if its a poster, but the source of Fairey's poster was a photo so its all good. Anyway, when I look at this photo, I feel like it definitely says hope. I feel like trying to analyze this photo today, if I hadn't known the source of where this came from, I would think victory over hope. But, I say hope, because at the time, this was the end of the peak of the civil rights era. This, for everyone going through it at the time, represented better times ahead, which definitely came.

Comments

  1. Hanna HJanuary 21, 2020 at 1:23 PM

    Poster are apart of our everyday life and seeing how they have evolved throughout the years is so interesting to see. The giant symbolism in both shows how important one needs in a poster. For example Uncle Sam pointing at the person who is reading the poster, and the person reaching out in Ballot 5. It's such a unique way to catch the person's attention.

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  2. Paige Hall PetryJanuary 21, 2020 at 7:46 PM

    I like your connection between propaganda in the United States and USSR. To me, the subliminal messaging in the pro-communist John Hartfield is much more successful at evoking a political response and emotional response over the Uncle Sam poster. The Uncle Sam poster, has become such an iconographic image to patriots of America, but I wonder if it garnered the results for it's intended purpose? It would be interesting to see any analyzation of it's effectiveness.

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