Researching this photograph was a fascinating journey. Although I knew some of the background to the photograph from reading Doreen Spooner’s autobiography, I didn’t know all the details of the Stephen Ward trial, and the Profumo affair. I summarised it in the body of the essay, but I had researched the facts in greater detail. It surprised me that two young women, Christine Keeler and Mandy Rice-Davies, naively befriended Stephen Ward, who then introduced Christine Keeler to John Profumo. They did not set out to bring down the government, they were just two women who were enjoying their lives. So much behind one innocent looking photograph.
- Demonstration of technical and visual skills – Because I was evaluating a found photograph there were limited technical skills involved, but some visual skills in identifying a suitable photograph.
- Quality of outcome – I used the theory of analysis of denotation and connotation of an image suggested by Roland Barthes in Rhetoric of the Image. I would have like to extend this to include his theories of studium, punctum and intertextuality, but due to the limitations of 1000 words was unable to do so.
- Demonstration of creativity – This was a very specific assignment aimed to demonstrate that I can to evaluate an existing image, so there was little opportunity to demonstrate creativity.
- Context – This was the main purpose of the assignment. To contextualise, reflect and evaluate the meaning of a photograph. I was able to give a for selecting this particular photograph, and research the background to it, explaining why such an ordinary image had become so significant it had been published on the front of the Daily Mirror. I was happy with the conclusion of this essay, as I had been able to answer my questions as to its origins and context.
Context and Narrative 