Reading text and images together.You should realise by now that any image can be read in the same way that a piece of text can. An audience decodes, or makes sense, of the meanings contained in a picture to understand its intended meaning.

However the same picture could have several different meanings for different people. An image that can be interpreted in more than one way is said to be polysemic.

By adding text to an image it is possible to ensure that everybody understands it in the same way. This process is called anchorage. It works in the same way that an anchor holds an object steady- in this case the preferred meaning of a picture.

Look at these examples… Is it possible to understand them just by looking at the content?

…or could they have more than one meaning?

Look at how the meaning of each image can be changed by simply adding some text in the form of a caption.Now, everybody reads it in the same way - the meaning is anchored by the text.

Year 8 pupils enjoy panning for gold on recent school trip.

Homeless pair find water to drink from culvert after earthquake.

This really is polysemic… without text to anchor the meaning it could mean anything.

Foreman identifies fault in furnace.

Practical joke goes wrong in horrific factory accident.

Police mediator pleads with hostage takers at local secondary school.

Dance teacher anxiously awaits results of X- Factor audition.

How many different captions can you think of for the remaining picture?

When you are looking at newspaper photographs, adverts, posters, book or magazine covers you must be able to write about how the images and text work together in order to create meaning.