'Adbusters' magazine- Refugee and model page

Layout and design:

• The page uses two pictures on top of each other to create the effect of one person, rather than one.
• The top image (featuring the refugees) is in black and white whilst the photo of the model is in colour.
• The top image is longer in width than the bottom image, suggests the imbalance between the two scenes.
• The use of the two juxtaposing images shows the message Adbusters is trying to convey.
• The page continues the disintegrating affect used previously in the magazine. Links to the disintegration of our planet and the negativity and unbalance that take place on it.

Media language:

• Barbed wire- Connotations of being trapped and stuck in their conditions. Presents the idea that they had no choice.  
• Children- Innocence, have done nothing to create the negativity in the world and yet receive it.
• Black and white photo vs the coloured- Shows the intensity of the model industry compared to the struggle of the refugees. The refugees only strive to survive (it’s simple, black and white), whilst in the fashion industry there is the complexity of designs, colours, weight etc.
• Empty space vs crowded- Shows the imbalance between the two photos. Highlights how many are affected by situations like the people in the picture are affected by and how little money and attention goes into it compared to how unnecessary the fashion industry is and the money and attention that goes into it.
• Red dress- Idea of danger, suggests the negativity surrounding the model industry and the dangers behind it e.g. eating disorders and the effect on society.
• Striped clothes- Could be linked back to concentration camps, once again, supports the idea of the refugees being trapped and imprisoned in their situation.
• Idea of hunger- The models are expected to starve themselves whilst influencing society to do the same to follow their image while refugees are being starved with no choice.
• Variation of ethnicities/nationalities- Shows anyone can be affected by struggles like the ones experience on the page.

Representation/theorists:

• No women in the first image however there is in the second. Contrasts with usual conventions where the woman is presented as lower than the men.
• Binary opposites- Contrast between the two pictures, shows the juxtaposition between poverty and wealth.
• bell hooks- The only woman represented in white and a model. Links to theory that white woman are higher in the social hierarchy.
• Liesbet van Zoonen and Laura Mulvey- The woman is not presented sexually, however women in the fashion industry are. Red dress could have sexual connotations.
• Roland Barthes semiotics- Red dress, barbed wire, colour and black and white.
• Stuart Hall reception- Could be taken comically by the placement of the images creating the illusion of the man having women’s legs.