So, here is my mixed media prototype.

As a prototype should be, this is not the finished article. It is still “rough around the edges” but it does show how this format could work, using a combination of text and images.

On some pages there are full size images that were already included in the manifesto, these I have left untouched as I thought that altering them would affect the impression of the altered manifesto, that it could be one step too far away from the original. Plus I thought it could be a bit too obvious and lack subtlety having a photograph superimposed onto another photograph and then there is also the issue of not having any text to influence the connotation of the image.

By producing this prototype it’s helped in a number of areas. Firstly it has demonstrated to me the complexity of the relationship between image and text. When I was choosing what images to go with what text it became clear that both the text and the image need a theme, or a grand narrative. Both elements, the picture and the text, need to follow the same narrative to support each other, to provide a common direction.

However, I am not entirely sure that I am achieving that aim. It seems that I have an element of cynicism, which is coming through in the text/image relationship. A good example of this is page 12, where there is a man watching cricket and the text underlined reads “innovative help to grow scheme”. Even though there is an element of humour in this, the text describes an action whilst the photograph denotes a leisure activity, so there is a conflict between the two, which leads to an element of cynicism. Part of me does like the the combination of cynicism and humour, but at the same time it doesn’t fit in with the notion of propaganda.

I think my next step is to start investigating pictorialism and how composition from oil paintings influenced photography. My initial thought is that when photography was invented it borrowed the style and compositional elements from oil paintings, as the were quite close to photography and was the way that people depicted a version of reality. This is, of course, in a very loose sense, when I say reality I mean that a painted portrait looked lifelike or a landscape would also look realistic, but both could also lack authenticity as the portrait could be beautified or buildings within the landscape adjusted or removed.

I also need to be researching the relationship between text and image, of how one effects the other. As I've mentioned above the text effects the connotation of the image, but I'm unsure if the image effects the connotation of the text, if the relationship only goes one way. Also, what do we see first, is it the image or the text and does this effect the connotations?

So overall, the prototype has given me a direction to go in and of how I can improve and better achieve the results I am seeking.