Words and Pictures

Topic 7

The Photographic message.

The image of ex-footballer and “conspiracy theorist” David Icke has been carefully chosen to suite the narrative Sky News wanted to deliver.

The parasitic message here is that Icke believes himself to be the son of God and, therefore, he is not to be trusted,

This viewpoint is helped somewhat by the choice of digital image used, hands either side of Icke’s head and open mouth portray him as mentally unstable.

The caption states:

“Who is David Icke? The conspiracy theorist who claims he is the son of God”.

It is clear by this message that we are meant to view Icke (according to Sky News) as an unreliable slightly mad conspiracy theorist whose thoughts and opinions can be ignored as the ravings of a lunatic who believes he is the son of God.

A quick fact check, however, reveals that this misquote comes from an interview with Terry Wogan on the Wogan show from 1982.

The caption would lead the viewer to believe that this is a recent quote not one that is 41 years old and factually incorrect.

Icke, in fact, stated that:

“We are all children of God. We are created by the thoughts of God”

My work to date has never really included captions.

I have captioned some images used in an exhibition but these were very clinical, Name of the band, where they were taken and my name.

I have never, until beginning this MA, considered captioning my work in more detail but this is something I am keen to explore more as my work evolves.