I have cut out three pictures from a daily news paper and added my own captions to the photos to alter their contextual meaning.
There are two types of messages that can be linked to a photograph, one is called an anchor and the other is called a relay.
Anchor is a message that controls the meaning of the picture.
Relay is a message that can complement an image. If you select songs to listen to on You-Tube they are sometimes accompanied by photographs that link certain passages of the song to the image and the relay method appears to work well here.
Examples below.
Anchors – The Clooney’s meet Angela Merkel

- The Clooney’s negotiate for celebrity asylum in Germany.
- George Clooney offers Angela Merkel a part in his next movie.
- Angela Merkel asks the stars of Hollywood if they have a spare room for an asylum seeker or two…
- Angela Merkel is coached by George Clooney before her speech to the European Parliament.
- George Clooney complaints to the management that it just isn’t Nescafé!
- Friends of the Clooney’s are airing concerns for George and Amal’s marriage, stating that Amal often privately complains that she feels ignored and marginalised in public by George.
- With the support of his wife George Clooney publicly denies sending a lewd and explicit Valentines card to Angela Merkel.
I have thought of seven new messages that anchor this in a new context and I am sure many more could be invented.
Relay – The Clooney’s meet Angela Merkel

- Hey you with the sad face, why don’t you come back to our place and live it up.
- “I’m sorry, I thought I saw a bureaucrat!”
- “Ein Nescafé bitte”
- A carrier in marriage counselling, it’s more than just a job.
- “The Lynx affect – LYNX deodorant.
- “Dr. Amal and I have been examining your test results and……..”
- “He looks much older than he does in the movies.”
Again I was able to come up with seven relay messages for this photo.
George Osborn poses in front of No 11 before he takes his Budget speech to Parliament.
Anchors:

- George Osborne in a public show of expense cutting reveals he takes to work a packed lunches.
- George Osborn warns the British economy is still in the red.
- George Osborn returns from the European conference with a written guarantee from the German Chancellor.
- George Osborn, is seen sporting the new Armani man-bag.
- Prime-minister demotes George Osborn to head of No 10’s post room.
- Osborn returns the queens favourite handbag, “I was able to rescue it before security blew it up.” He later reported.
I was able to produce six alternative anchors for this photo.
Relay:

- “I’m putting your taxes up for a start!”
- “Allah is Great!”
- “Swop?”
- Is he holding the future to your pension?
- The economy
- Good budgeting tips.
I was able to produce six relays for this picture.
English Rugby team
Anchors:

- British Rugby team learn of the death of a rising star player.
- The ball just misses the posts and England looses the match.
- English Rugby players are asked to sing the national anthem from memory.
- Mako Vunipola is ordered off the pitch for an illegal tackle.
- The moment the terrorist blew himself up.
- Hackers share shocking selfies of Mako Vunipola on stadium’s big screens.
I managed to produce six anchors for this image.
Relay:

- Tense nervous headache?
- “I can’t look!”
- Have you bought your lottery ticket?
- “Hold my hand lest I fall…” (Jim Reeves, Take My Hand Precious Lord)
On this occasion I could only think of four relays for this picture.
I can see from these new anchor messages that an image can be turned from serious to comical or used for advertising / Political or socially concerning messages. Similarly a relay message can do similar things including linking to literature such as poetry or lyrics to a song.