Visual representation of happiness: a sociosemiotic perspective on stock photography

Abstract

ABSTRACT The objective of this study is to investigate the visual construction of meaning within the semiotic resource of stock photography. Since the popularity of this product seems to affect the production, perception, interpretation and social internalization of the units of discourse included in the images under discussion, it is this author’s understanding that it can thus spread the ideological domination of prevailing, public sentiments towards specific concepts. This phenomenon is exemplified in the present article by an analysis of visual material depicting happiness, extracted from one of the biggest online banks of imagery, i.e. Shutterstock. The examination of the content of the photos seeks to identify the elements and their relations and combinations which stand for subjective well-being, to be then contrasted with corresponding research in the field of psychology. Attention is also paid to what is absent in the material. This approach leads to the conclusion that the significance of this resource lies in the distinct choices of particular items as depictive of a concept, especially as these choices conform to social expectations concerning its visual representation.