Ultraviolence Digipak Image Analysis
Below are the images inside the Ultraviolence (2014) digipak.
They further the creation of her persona and set the tone for the album, representing her in very specific ways in order to attract their target audience and encourage them to buy the digipak.
In the first image, Lana Del Rey is lying on a bed of hydrangeas, smoking a cigarette. The inclusion of flowers represents traditional ideas on femininity, contrasted by her smoking a cigarette which is typically a more masculine action. The choice of hydrangeas specifically links to both her song Old Money, in which she sings about them, but also the fact that hydrangeas represent heartlessness and acting without thinking about the feelings of another (the main theme of the album), grace or beauty (the core of her aesthetic; Hollywood glamour and elegance) and abundance and prosperity (the darker side of Hollywood; the lack of fulfilment she feels even though she has everything).
I have embedded the song below, however as there is not an official music video, this is a fan-made video.
The choice of colour, with the prominence of blues and violets surrounding her represent the somewhat moody tone of the album, while the lack of green (the green of the flowers have been changed to a more yellow colour with a filter) represents perhaps her lack of vitality, the feeling of her youth escaping her, and her sadness because of this. Her red nails and the red logo on her white top represent her as dangerous and passionate, a femme-fatale-type that contributes to her image, while the whiteness of her shirt perhaps representing purity corrupted by the red logo, showing how she herself has perhaps been stained in this way by her abusive relationship that is the main focus of the album.
The text on her shirt, 'peyote', at first may appear as a logo, but it actually is the name of a drug. Coupled with the cigarette, she again shows she has a dangerous side, but also reveals the darker side of the Hollywood glamour aesthetic that she cultivated in her first album Born to Die, taking focus away from the glitz and glamour, and instead focusing on the fact that young stars often die from drug overdoses, and the dangerous aspects of such a lavish lifestyle. This is perhaps also an alternative interpretation of the symbolism in the flowers: they are funeral flowers. She could be perhaps mourning the death of her relationship, or even the death of her 'old' persona from the previous album, as it is a dramatic shift in tone from the Born to Die (2012) album. It demonstrates how she has progressed as an artist, and how the fame has affected her, and the development of her persona.
As she is centre of the frame, she is the dominant image, with all of the onlooker's attention focused on her, as well as the flowers all pointing towards her to again reinforce that she is the focus. Her body language is passive, she doesn't look directly at the camera and her facial expression is stoic. This represents her as emotionally closed off, and helps to build up her persona as a moody and isolated 'starlet', an image which first emerged in her music video for her hit song Video Games (2012), embedded below.
Here we can see Elizabeth Grant beginning to shape the persona that is Lana Del Rey from her first album with her apparent sadness conveyed through facial expression and stoicism, as well as her melancholic lyrics. This element of her persona, however, did not fully develop until the release of Ultraviolence, her second album under the name Lana Del Rey.
In the image above, Lana is kneeling on a red carpet, fidgeting with her ripped jeans.
An onlooker is able to immediately recognise that the women pictured is in indeed Lana, as her iconic red nails feature prominently in the image. This is an example of the way her persona has been carefully constructed so that it can be easily recognised even from the smallest details, and creates a brand.
The clothing she is wearing is somewhat unexpected, as it breaks away from her traditional 60s glamour style by showing her wearing jeans. This is again to highlight the darker side of Hollywood, and to demonstrate the evolution of her persona. The rips in her jeans again represent her as dangerous and rebellious, an image that she is keen to cultivate in this album as demonstrated previously by her cigarette and the reference to drugs on her shirt.
The prominence of red in the shot, both in the carpet and in her nails, again draws attention to the more dangerous, passionate side of her persona that we weren't shown in the Born to Die album (where she instead chose to present herself as fragile, vulnerable and emotional) and counters many stereotypical representations of women by presenting her in an almost intimidating fashion. However, she still wears a gold bracelet on her right wrist, again revealing her wealth and status that is a constant in the portrayal of her persona.
Above, the city of LA is pictured in black and white. It appears to be printed on canvas and then photographed, which may have been added when the image was edited. The use of the 'canvas' effect contributes to the old Hollywood feeling, as well as the filtering of the image into black and white. It is almost included as ambience for the album, with a nostalgic quality to the photo that is reflected in the sound of the songs on the album.
The old car model in the background reinforces her 1960s Hollywood glamour aesthetic and gives the impression that she is retro and elegant. This ties in with the black and white filter which gives the impression that she is part of the classic Hollywood scene. This fascinates the onlookers who see this iconography juxtaposed against warnings and threats of violent content. This would appeal to aspirers because it is a look into the lifestyle of the rich and famous. They aspire to be like her, to have as much wealth and as much fame as her. The album is almost a warning against the perils of the difficult industry in which she works, an industry which so many people aspire to.
Direct eye contact with the camera connotes power and inner strength. It is as if she is challenging her audience to judge her for the album she has produced (based on the title and the parental advisory sticker featured on the album cover). The clothing is basic, conforming to the conventions of indie music– that it is simple, independent and understated. The fact that her bra is slightly visible through her shirt suggests an element of boldness and daring, and appeals to her chosen target audience, combined with the direct eye contact it gives the impression that she is in control of her sexuality, and challenges conventional representations of women in media.
The title Ultraviolence is a taken from the word ultraviolet, but is also prominent in the 1960s novel A Clockwork Orange, which is where it may have been taken from. Given that the era in which it was written is where she draws a lot of inspiration from, and the violent meaning of the word in the text, it is likely she took inspiration from this novel. It connotes her difficult past and reinforces her grungy-glam aesthetic. The name of the album is controversial, and as per two-step flow theory, it will make people talk about it, thus increasing sales.
The upper-case white font in bold contrasts with the darkness of the image it is layered over, in order to draw the eye. It is the same font used across each of Lana’s albums, creating synergy and establishing her persona as a brand. The white colour connotes her purity and light, however the fact that it is an image with sexual tones is perhaps a perversion of the traditional representation of women, as an attempt to show herself as strong and powerful, and to defy ideas about gender.
They further the creation of her persona and set the tone for the album, representing her in very specific ways in order to attract their target audience and encourage them to buy the digipak.
In the first image, Lana Del Rey is lying on a bed of hydrangeas, smoking a cigarette. The inclusion of flowers represents traditional ideas on femininity, contrasted by her smoking a cigarette which is typically a more masculine action. The choice of hydrangeas specifically links to both her song Old Money, in which she sings about them, but also the fact that hydrangeas represent heartlessness and acting without thinking about the feelings of another (the main theme of the album), grace or beauty (the core of her aesthetic; Hollywood glamour and elegance) and abundance and prosperity (the darker side of Hollywood; the lack of fulfilment she feels even though she has everything).
I have embedded the song below, however as there is not an official music video, this is a fan-made video.
The choice of colour, with the prominence of blues and violets surrounding her represent the somewhat moody tone of the album, while the lack of green (the green of the flowers have been changed to a more yellow colour with a filter) represents perhaps her lack of vitality, the feeling of her youth escaping her, and her sadness because of this. Her red nails and the red logo on her white top represent her as dangerous and passionate, a femme-fatale-type that contributes to her image, while the whiteness of her shirt perhaps representing purity corrupted by the red logo, showing how she herself has perhaps been stained in this way by her abusive relationship that is the main focus of the album.
The text on her shirt, 'peyote', at first may appear as a logo, but it actually is the name of a drug. Coupled with the cigarette, she again shows she has a dangerous side, but also reveals the darker side of the Hollywood glamour aesthetic that she cultivated in her first album Born to Die, taking focus away from the glitz and glamour, and instead focusing on the fact that young stars often die from drug overdoses, and the dangerous aspects of such a lavish lifestyle. This is perhaps also an alternative interpretation of the symbolism in the flowers: they are funeral flowers. She could be perhaps mourning the death of her relationship, or even the death of her 'old' persona from the previous album, as it is a dramatic shift in tone from the Born to Die (2012) album. It demonstrates how she has progressed as an artist, and how the fame has affected her, and the development of her persona.
As she is centre of the frame, she is the dominant image, with all of the onlooker's attention focused on her, as well as the flowers all pointing towards her to again reinforce that she is the focus. Her body language is passive, she doesn't look directly at the camera and her facial expression is stoic. This represents her as emotionally closed off, and helps to build up her persona as a moody and isolated 'starlet', an image which first emerged in her music video for her hit song Video Games (2012), embedded below.
Here we can see Elizabeth Grant beginning to shape the persona that is Lana Del Rey from her first album with her apparent sadness conveyed through facial expression and stoicism, as well as her melancholic lyrics. This element of her persona, however, did not fully develop until the release of Ultraviolence, her second album under the name Lana Del Rey.
In the image above, Lana is kneeling on a red carpet, fidgeting with her ripped jeans.
An onlooker is able to immediately recognise that the women pictured is in indeed Lana, as her iconic red nails feature prominently in the image. This is an example of the way her persona has been carefully constructed so that it can be easily recognised even from the smallest details, and creates a brand.
The clothing she is wearing is somewhat unexpected, as it breaks away from her traditional 60s glamour style by showing her wearing jeans. This is again to highlight the darker side of Hollywood, and to demonstrate the evolution of her persona. The rips in her jeans again represent her as dangerous and rebellious, an image that she is keen to cultivate in this album as demonstrated previously by her cigarette and the reference to drugs on her shirt.
The prominence of red in the shot, both in the carpet and in her nails, again draws attention to the more dangerous, passionate side of her persona that we weren't shown in the Born to Die album (where she instead chose to present herself as fragile, vulnerable and emotional) and counters many stereotypical representations of women by presenting her in an almost intimidating fashion. However, she still wears a gold bracelet on her right wrist, again revealing her wealth and status that is a constant in the portrayal of her persona.
Above, the city of LA is pictured in black and white. It appears to be printed on canvas and then photographed, which may have been added when the image was edited. The use of the 'canvas' effect contributes to the old Hollywood feeling, as well as the filtering of the image into black and white. It is almost included as ambience for the album, with a nostalgic quality to the photo that is reflected in the sound of the songs on the album.
The old car model in the background reinforces her 1960s Hollywood glamour aesthetic and gives the impression that she is retro and elegant. This ties in with the black and white filter which gives the impression that she is part of the classic Hollywood scene. This fascinates the onlookers who see this iconography juxtaposed against warnings and threats of violent content. This would appeal to aspirers because it is a look into the lifestyle of the rich and famous. They aspire to be like her, to have as much wealth and as much fame as her. The album is almost a warning against the perils of the difficult industry in which she works, an industry which so many people aspire to.
Direct eye contact with the camera connotes power and inner strength. It is as if she is challenging her audience to judge her for the album she has produced (based on the title and the parental advisory sticker featured on the album cover). The clothing is basic, conforming to the conventions of indie music– that it is simple, independent and understated. The fact that her bra is slightly visible through her shirt suggests an element of boldness and daring, and appeals to her chosen target audience, combined with the direct eye contact it gives the impression that she is in control of her sexuality, and challenges conventional representations of women in media.
The title Ultraviolence is a taken from the word ultraviolet, but is also prominent in the 1960s novel A Clockwork Orange, which is where it may have been taken from. Given that the era in which it was written is where she draws a lot of inspiration from, and the violent meaning of the word in the text, it is likely she took inspiration from this novel. It connotes her difficult past and reinforces her grungy-glam aesthetic. The name of the album is controversial, and as per two-step flow theory, it will make people talk about it, thus increasing sales.
The upper-case white font in bold contrasts with the darkness of the image it is layered over, in order to draw the eye. It is the same font used across each of Lana’s albums, creating synergy and establishing her persona as a brand. The white colour connotes her purity and light, however the fact that it is an image with sexual tones is perhaps a perversion of the traditional representation of women, as an attempt to show herself as strong and powerful, and to defy ideas about gender.
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