Photography is a form of art product that has its own uniqueness. More importantly, it has been widely used in various media which include flyer pamphlets, newspapers, posters as well as digital media. In regard to this, photographs produced by a Chinese photographer known as Ren Hang clearly represent the medium of photography as a transmitter of social criticism as well as the message of humanity. The purpose of this study was to investigate how the meaning and message were displayed by the photographs. In the present study, the critical paradigm was adopted for the purpose of utilizing the qualitative method of semiotics analysis developed by Roland Barthes. The analysis of this study allowed the extraction of the meanings and messages contained in these photographs by conducting two levels of marking known as denotation and connotation, followed by their association with myths. The results showed that the meaning and message representing social criticism and humanism side were represented in the photographs. Finally, it can be concluded that the photographs of Ren Hang convey social criticism and portray the humanism side of man with the universe.
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