Analysing Visual Images

(www.pictify.com)

 This is a photograph by Cecil Beaton (1904-1980) which dates from 1937, and is of the Duchess of Windsor Wallis Simpson (1896-1986) in Elsa Schiaparelli’s (1890-1973) ‘Lobster dress’. 

My first impression of the image is that is has a dreamy and slightly surreal quality to it, as Wallis is wearing an evening gown with a lobster on it which is unusual and unexpected, and the fact that she is wearing this evening dress amongst bushes and foliage whilst carrying bunches of twigs seems out of place, as you expect to see an evening dress against a glamorous backdrop, not a natural, chaotic one, adding to the surreal quality of the image. To me the image represents an angelic woman, who looks as though she is floating about in a dreamy way, perhaps because this photograph was taken shortly before she was to marry the Duke of Windsor, so she was in a blissful and distracted state of mind, which I think shows in the image, as she looks like she is preoccupied by her own thoughts and not fully present in the photograph. It is also quite a romantic image, which would have been fitting as she was about to be married. I think there is a subtle message in the image through the lobster painted by Salvador Dali on the dress. When you first look at the photograph, you see an angelic image, but when you see the lobster on the dress, it perhaps hints to a more sexual side of the image, as Dali was known for using lobsters in his artworks to represent sexuality. 

The nature of the image is a professional portrait, but it is done in what looks like quite a candid way, as it is though Beaton has captured Wallis on a stroll through some gardens, as she does not look as though she is pulling a pose and it all looks very natural and in the moment. I think that the setting compliments the image, as although there is a lot going on in the background with all of the plants, it does not detract away from Wallis, but compliments her and she dominates the image instead of blending in with the backdrop, yet she also seems at harmony with her surroundings. There is a clam aura to the image, as Wallis’ face and body looks relaxed, and I think the black and white effect of the photograph contributes to the calming quality of the image. The lighting of the image looks naturalistic like a bright beam of sunlight from the left hand side of the image, but could have perhaps been exaggerated by using a reflector to reflect the light onto Wallis to make her glow in the way that she is in the image, and to also reflect some of the light into the background of the image so that Wallis stands out from it and they’re not the same tone.  

These images of Wallis by Beaton were taken for a spread in Vogue magazine, and Wallis told Vogue, ‘I’m not a beautiful woman. I’m nothing to look at, so the only thing I can do is dress better than anyone else’. Wallis presents this attitude in the images, as she herself isn’t necessarily the most striking woman, but the combination of the outfit, the backdrop, and the subtle hair and makeup adds to an overall striking, interesting and iconic photograph.