SEMIOTICS ANALYSIS OF PHOTO PROJECT “LAND OF THE SEA”

Abstract

“Land of the Sea” is a long-term project by young Indonesian female photographer Irene Barlian. The message from this photo project is the threat of sea level rising caused by climate change. The meanings and thoughts embedded in the photography produce different levels of cognition represented by the image mental experience. Photography is one of the mediums developing an image mental experience from photography exhibition. With photography as the medium, photographers can uniquely convey various messages, signs, and meanings. The creative experience process has generate through the idea of delivering a message through the medium. Semiotics, the study of signs, explore how images can construct a perception of simulative experience. Through the immersive simulation process, an interpretation is carried out as a stimulus for an aesthetic expression and a simulation of reality. How do the interrelations between photography enhance the signs process and lead to cognitive stimulation? How can the interaction of sign simulations produce a simulative representation? What is the relationship between the power of authority and the image contained in the image? The difference in the level of cognition is no longer singular but become difference signification following audience's background, perception, and use of meaningful signs. Semiotic dialogism explores visual literacies on the sign code embedded in the medium of photography to reflect various expressions and interpretations, which can convey the dynamic, immersive picture or sequences to the formations of meanings. The semiotics analysis describes and studies how a person receives messages obtained through complex intersections between the human mind and immersive experiences based on Saussure’s semiotics theory. The author expected to study the signification process of the photo project Land of the Sea as a medium for visual cognition and how the photograph can signal, stimulate, and convey climate crisis message.