Information value The photograph uses all three
types of information value systems to get the rhetorical
message across to viewers. Within the image,
there is a clear left/right system. The foot on the left
represents the given (that is, a patient requiring care)
while the hand on the right represents what the
Web site wishes to offer as a new idea to users—
that podiatry care is a significant aspect of personal
healthcare. The image also has a center/margin system
with the hand holding the foot as the nucleus of
information. And, finally, the image combined with
the text creates an ideal/real system. The ideal of the
positive, caring doctor-patient relationship is visualized
in the photograph above the text while the real—
facts about feet and practitioners—is incorporated
in the text below the image.
Salience Size, focus, and foreground/background
are the processes of salience that contribute to the
rhetoric of the photograph. The hand is the largest
RP, emphasizing the importance of the doctor. The
vectors are in focus and in the foreground, whereas
the circle of the incubator and the rest of the background
are out of focus. The viewer is, therefore,
compelled to pay attention to the action inherent in
central image of the clasp.
Framing Although the photograph has no actual
lines as a frame, the use of color (which of course
cannot be seen in the black-and-white version of the
photo reproduced here) sets it apart from the whiteness
of the Web page on which it is placed and
frames it as a separate item. Also, the colors
within the image fall within the white-creambrown
spectrum of the palette, creating a continuity
that holds the pictorial elements together. The
text sits directly below the photograph with the
slogan “Paying Careful Attention to Details,” acting
as the photograph’s caption and the lead-in to the
paragraph itself.