Från svartvitt fotografi till målning och skivomslag : En studie av en bilds transformation

Sammanfattning: From the perspective that it is one and the same picture that is changing, this essay includes semiotic analyses of Lynn Curlee´s painting Smoking angels, made in 1979, the photograph from 1928 wich inspired the artist, as well as Black Sabbath´s album cover Heaven and Hell, that was first released in 1980. Although the forms of the pictures are different the motif is quite the same, yet, what the pictures convey is different. The analysis will be based mainly by the use of two theories: Hans Belting opines that a picture can not exist on its own, that "the what" of an image is steered by "the how" in wich it transmits its message. The medium that is used and the physical form are the messengers but the picture happens where it is manifested. Wendy Leeds-Hurwitz´s theory implies that to understand what a picture means we need to study the context and culture that is prevailing where the picture is shown. How the picture is received in its different forms and what the factors are that play a part in this, is the main focus in this essay.