Ben Bertolino
Hammond
COM 232
15 February 2010
Analysis of an Image

The image that I chose is a picture of the National Football League’s Vince Lombardi Trophy, which is awarded to the Super Bowl Champion every season. But this is a special picture, because it is not standing alone, but being embraced, worshipped, and cherished by a team that has just won the Super Bowl. The Super Bowl trophy is symbolic of everything that not just an NFL player, but any professional athlete works toward for their entire lives. It also symbolizes the goals for which any person works hardest. This image portrays the scene of reaching the ultimate goal of winning the Super Bowl, and can be seen further through Nick Lacey’s terms for image analysis, such as context, composition, and frame.

First, the image of the Vince Lombardi trophy immediately sets the photo at the finish of the Super Bowl. The hands that support it confirm this fact because they are still dressed in uniform apparel, such as gloves and tape. When I initially saw this image, the raw emotion of the winning moment for the championship team blasted up from the bottom of the frame and through the hands of the players to the trophy. For the image to be held high by the hands in this photo, the emotion of finally accomplishing their goal as both a team and a player hits hard. For an NFL player, coach, or fan, the feeling of your team winning a championship has no equal. Every participant in every sport hopes, prays, and wishes for this moment for as long as he has known the game, so when the Super Bowl is won, the celebration begins. This image demonstrates that moment first-hand.

Next, the composition of this photo tells not only the story of the championship team (in this case, the 2002 Tampa Bay Buccaneers), but also the story of everyone in pursuit of his goals in life. On a literal sense, the photo shows the team celebrating its hard-fought victory in the Super Bowl. The celebration is on, and the trophy is being passed around and embraced, demonstrated by the taped hands reaching up and fingerprinting the silver surface that reflects the thousands of joyous people. Also, on a symbolic sense, the good times in life stem from the hard work that we put into what we do. That is also evident in this picture, from the dirty, beat up hands, to the stretch to put just one fingertip on the ultimate symbol of accomplishment. One of my teachers in high school always used to tell my peers and me, “Work hard, and play hard,” and that phrase can be represented perfectly in this image. Through the trying times that test their toughness, the grasp on the trophy is the moment that begins the time of play after a long, grueling session of work. Even if the goals accomplished are not as significant as winning a Super Bowl, the ability to balance hard work with rest, relaxation, and play is a lesson that can lead to a much healthier lifestyle.

Finally, the frame in which the image is placed is a perfect moment captured using the Rule of Thirds. The players, coaches, and fans have all just experienced the first moment of realization that their team is the champion, so the placement of the Super Bowl trophy at the top of the image represents the highest of goals. The many hands at the bottom third of the frame represent the many participants that are constantly reaching toward one same feat. The horizontally centered trophy pops out at the viewer upon first glance, signifying the divine nature of those who are immortalized by the glory of winning the Super Bowl. As if the sun is shining down upon the world, the Vince Lombardi trophy provides a light that shines upon the best of the players and coaches in both the NFL and the entire athletic world. This is further illustrated in the image by the reflection of a mass of people, as well as the bright light that shines on the horizon of that reflection. By looking at that image embedded in the trophy’s shining surface, it is as if the trophy is displaying a glorious object that thousands of people gaze up at with lust and desire. The reflection of such a moment could not be captured without precise framing, for such a mirror image would have to be captured at the perfect moment.

Lacey’s views on image analysis, most notably context, composition, and framing, all allow for an image as profound as this one to be brought to life in many different respects. Whether it is the emotion that has overcome the Super Bowl champions, the divinity of Vince Lombardi and the trophy that was named after him, or the simple hard work of a regular person working a nine-to-five job from an office cubical, this image captures the accomplishment for which every person strives.