Spectatorship and Power Relationships in Advertising

For the Ralph Lauren advertisement that represents a single person, the subject appears to be relaxing and unaware that she is the object of the photo. Besides the fact that she is clearly posing for a photo shoot, it is apparent that she is resting from a long bike ride. From the environment surrounding her it seems to be that she went on a motorcycle ride into the dessert and is resting. She seems to be in the middle of nowhere but she also has a presence that seems very aware of her surroundings. 

She seems as though she is not being watched or looked at by anyone. She doesn’t have direct contact with the camera and is appearing to be leaning against the motorcycle and looking out in the distance at something that is unseen by the spectator. 

Certain characteristics in the advertisement of the model and the environment support my point. First, the environment is very natural and rough. The floor is dirty and seemingly untouched as if the spot was chosen for the advertisement, not created for the advertisement. Another supporting factor is that the model is not looking at the camera. If this same photo was taken but there were many people in the picture she would still be the main focus without trying. The photographer wanted her to look as though she is taking a rest from riding her motorcycle so she is just leaning her body against her bike. 

In the second advertisement there are multiple people but only 3 faces of those people can be seen. The woman holding her bag has more power than the other people and it is apparent for many reasons. First, although not the only woman in the picture, she is the only woman whose face can be seen. Her skin is glowing as the sun bounces off of her face. She has the most skin showing as opposed to the other people in this advertisement who do not have much skin showing. She is the only person facing the front of this photo and she has a very powerful position. Her body is long and her chest faces the front of the photo making her appear assertive and powerful. 

 

Evidence in this advertisement that supports the claim that this female character hold the power would be that the males are both facing away from the front of the picture looking out and down. The female in the front of the photo is in movement whereas the other characters are sitting still almost placed as mannequins that she seems to be moving around their existence. 

Her gaze out in the distance creates a line pulling out that draws the eye to her alignment of the body. As a spectator, the eyes are drawn to this golden woman who seems to be holding all of the power of the advertisement in her body and expression.