Bootstrap New Urbanism by Rodriguez Joseph A.;

Author:Rodriguez, Joseph A.;
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: undefined
Publisher: Lexington Books/Fortress Academic
Published: 2012-08-15T00:00:00+00:00

The color photographs in “No RSVP Needed” dominated the page as the text was minimal—usually nothing more than expanded captions. The color photographs depicted men and women socializing in various clubs in and around Milwaukee. The photographs included first and last names of the patrons. The text gave details about each club (drinks available, other activities, type of crowd in attendance). The photographs were mostly “crowd shots” but included posed and un-posed pictures of patrons.[51] Because they depict groups and couples interacting, the photographs are a visual representation of community-centeredness that New Urbanist planners claimed their designs facilitated.

“No RSVP Required” was free advertising for the establishments as well as free advertisements for the alcohol (brand names are frequently given and bottle labels are highlighted) that can be purchased at the venue. In the nineteenth century, U.S. newspaper advertisements only showed the image of the product. By the early twentieth century, advertising progressed to “showing the product in use,” which was deemed more convincing.[52] This is precisely what the photographs in “No RSVP Needed” did more effectively than “advertisements” because the users of the products were “real” people who ostensibly made their choice of products to consume and where to consume them free of any outside influence. They are “caught in the act” rather than models posing with a product.

Alcohol advertising is associated with colored images that appear on the television and magazines printed on glossy paper. One of the most famous advertising campaigns, images of the bottle of “Absolut” vodka, appeared in glossy magazines that highlighted artistic renderings of the bottle’s shape made of different materials. However, with new printing technologies, newspapers now match the clarity of magazines. The clarity of color photographs in “No RSVP Needed” advertises the newspaper as a viable competitor to glossy magazine advertising.

In essence, these photographs approximated tourism advertisements. They encouraged readers to view themselves as an urban tourist and the city’s bars become tourist sites in the sense that the images explored venues worth visiting. Thus, these photographs amounted to patrons performing for the photojournalist and creating “place myths” that represented the type of bar (working class, upscale dance club, etc.) and the type of people (age, profession) who patronize or work at the bar.[53] Readers viewed the photographs as accurate presentations of the bars’ ambiance and type of patrons since these are supposedly not actors but actual customers.

In the late twentieth century, imagery again became central to urban promotion. As cities competed for residents and businesses they ratcheted up their visual production. Photography and video are the preferred methods of selling the city today. Photographs of the city were part of elaborate advertising campaigns.[54] Computers and Geographical Information Systems (GIS) make visual representations quick and cheap to produce and reproduce. Cities increasingly compete to produce positive visual information. The MJS noted that Milwaukee had to compete with places like Atlanta that were further ahead in producing visual geographic information to help companies find land and buildings available for development.[55]

Similarly, urban officials use advertisements with catch phrases and mottos to encapsulate the city’s cultural and economic vitality.

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