Artist removes words from ad to prove a point

What happens when you take the words out of advertising campaigns? Well, you're left with thought-prokoving and questionable images wondering what they are actually trying to sell. Photo conceptual artist Hank Willis Thomas had his work on display in New York at his Unbranded: A Century of a White Woman exhibition. The wordless advertisements have been edited by Thomas to unearth the possible meanings behind the images- without words. He strips the image of all its commerciality and leaves the reader to depict with its remains. So then, what do you think the images mean? 

I wonder how we would all react if all images were stripped of their words. Our culture is so used to sexualised images creeping their way into our media, and more than often don't look twice. We react differently to the exposure of things our eyes usually don't see. 

I stumbled across these images online earlier this week as I was doing some research, and felt compelled by their rawness of the advertising industry. It's not everyday you see something so exposed; so provoking; so deep in meaning. What does the image below say to you? An advertisement selling a game (what it's trying to sell) is not what first came to mind. 

The theorist Roland Barthes says an advertising image is 'the most intentional sort of image,' and that it's message is direct and empathic. Thomas is tapping into the viewers emotions, and after taking what really is the most important part of the ad away, leaving us to think for ourselves. 

I honestly wonder how we would all react if wordless ads became a part of our society. Would we still buy the product, or would we react quicker to the deeper message lying behind the brand? 

What we can learn from Essena O'Neill's Instagram

We can learn a thing or two from 19-year-old Australian blogger Essena O'Neill, who quit Instagram after claiming social media 'is not real life'. She deleted over 2000 of her photos- which garnered in over 722,000 followers, after saying 'they served no purpose other than self-promotion.' 

O'Neill's images- depicting the 'perfect life'- were edited several times to win over the approval of her followers, and showed the side she only wanted people to see. After feeling suffocated by the fake, edited side of Instagram she re-edited her images to expose the side we don't always see. 

She captioned her photo: "Please like this photo, I put on makeup, curled my hair, tight dress, big uncomfortable jewellery...Took over 50 shots until I got one I thought you might like, then I edited this one selfie for ages on several apps- just so I could feel some social approval from you." THERE IS NOTHING REAL ABOUT THIS #celebrityconstuct. 

O'Neill has shone light on the fact that we are indeed a brain-washed generation. That what you see on social media is not real life. And that you shouldn't aspire to have someone else's life when it's not even real. She confessed up to the truth about her bikini shots, saying she would get paid to upload them and wouldn't eat for days. 

"We are a generation told to consume and consume, with not thought of where it all comes from and where it all goes," says O'Neill. Her new blog- letsbegamechangers- is raw, truthful and inspiring . Real photos, unedited and the mask taken away, she is unearthing the truth about the social approval we all crave to receive. So, the next time you see a photo portraying 'the perfect life,' perhaps think about the time, effort and energy that went into creating that one image. And ask yourself: is this real life?