The Journal of Communication and Media Studies

https://doi.org/10.18848/2470-9247/CGP/A136

This article examines how visual semiotics remains a vital analytical framework for interpreting media imagery, even in the age of generative AI and computational photography. Through a case study of images and texts published by Italian online media during the COVID-19 outbreak, the study explores how visual communication employed symbolic systems, archetypes, and culturally embedded codes to frame the pandemic. Drawing on the work of Barthes, Hall, Rose, and Berger, the methodology combines semiotic analysis with iconological interpretation to decode both denotative and connotative meanings. The findings show that, despite technological advancements in image production and distribution, the visual rhetoric of the pandemic relied heavily on long-standing archetypal narratives—war metaphors, heroic figures, and moral dichotomies—which shaped public perception and emotional response. Examples range from press photographs of deserted urban spaces and militarized public sites to religious imagery and meme culture, including Paolo Miranda’s frontline photography. The analysis demonstrates that such archetypal and symbolic strategies retain their persuasive power in digital culture. In an era defined by algorithmic curation and the proliferation of synthetic media, visual literacy emerges as an essential civic skill—necessary to critically navigate, question, and interpret the images that define contemporary collective experience.

About the conference
The Tenth International Conference on Communication & Media Studies convened researchers and practitioners in Paris to discuss media’s role in culture, technology, and society. The 2025 meeting took place September 11–12, 2025, at Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne.

It is the result of the research that I have conducted for my Ph.D. at the University of Westminster (at the Centre for Research and Education in Arts and Media). This book reviews photographic portrayals of contemporary Italian migrants living in the area between Lausanne and Geneva in Switzerland (Arc Lémanique). Drawing from the archives of Swiss-French illustrated magazines (L’Illustré and L’Hebdo) and other online publications, the author analyses the distinctive photographic representations of Italian migrants in Switzerland from the 1960s to 2019 and uses them to produce new photographic portraits of the 21st century Italian migrants on the Arc Lémanique.  Challenging the narrative on the brain drain, the book showcases 24 portraits of Italians living in Switzerland with the aim to unveil the unique and complex nature of a new Italian diaspora in the age of globalization. The combination of theories, concepts, and methodologies used reflects the interdisciplinary and creative approach of this research, which brings together culture, identity, photography, and creative process. Based on the lived experience of the author as an Italian migrant in Switzerland, the book offers a profound analysis of the phenomenon of migration and identity through visual communication.

From Thursday, December 5^th to Saturday, December 7^th, the Museo Nazionale della Emigrazione Italiana in Genova (Italy) hosted the 7^th edition of the conference on Italian Diasporas – Italy in Movement. The event is in collaboration with John D. Calandra Italian American Institute, Queens College (CUNY), New York, CO.AS.IT. Italian Assistance Association, Melbourne MUNTREF Museo de la Universidad Nacional de Tres de Febrero, Buenos Aires. This year’s topic is about ‘Representation and Questions of Identity.’ I submitted my proposal to present my research and I discussed my paper on 21st century Italian Migrants on the arc lémanique in Switzerland. I described my research and its interdisciplinary approach with photography, portraiture and cultural identity. I also moderated two panels and was interviewed by RAI, the Italian national TV (link).

The presentation focused on semiotics and text analysis of these publications which eventually led to the key choices for the production of the photographic portraits of ‘The Invisible Diaspora.’

Contemporary historians have identified three major Italian migratory phases in Switzerland: the great diaspora of the late 19th century, the period between World War I and World War II, and the diaspora from the end of World War II until the 1970s.

However, according to the Office Federal de la Statistique of Switzerland, the Italians were still the largest group of migrants arriving in Switzerland in 2022. This exhibition is the product of an eight-year-long academic research process. Its goal is to prompt a discussion about the recent waves of Italian migrants to French-speaking Switzerland – especially those who reside between Geneva and Lausanne on the north shore of the Lac Léman – and about their portraiture through photography.

The images are intended as a new form of portraiture of the migratory experience. Printed on semi-transparent fabric, they are meant to recall an earlier type of image of Italian origin. The lighting system, the sharpness of the portraits, the inclusion of a landscape, and the use of perspective in a square frame – all of these devices refer to parameters that are characteristic of Italian Renaissance portraiture. Anchored to the ceiling and randomly placed in the center of the room, visitors to the exhibition walk among the photographs. The semi-transparent figures are meant to give visitors a visual experience of how anonymized and unrecognizable contemporary Italian migrants have become in Switzerland today. This is in stark contrast with their photographic portrayal during the 1960s and 1970s, when Italian migrants were represented as “othered”, often portrayed with suitcases, clothes, and behaviors that were different from those of the native Swiss population. Today Italian migrants have truly become a part of the local social fabric in Switzerland, to the point of quasi-invisibility.

This exhibition evokes the need for a new paradigm in the representation of a diaspora, a group phenomenon. While in the 1960s and 1970s, the Italian migration process to Switzerland was composed in most cases of large groups of people from the same towns and villages, the recent diaspora does not have this characteristic and is more individualistic. However, we are talking about a mass phenomenon that took place over time. The display of this exhibition aims to address both dimensions. As they enter the room, visitors see all the portraits at once, creating a strong visual and psychological impact. While the representation of these migrants as a group is important, so is the representation of each of them as an individual, which is why, on the floor under each image, visitors will find a QR code granting access to a fragment of an interview conducted with the migrant portrayed.