Analysis of Image: Time Magazine Cover

[Photographer Martin Schoeller: U.S. Olympians]

This Time magazine cover puts the spotlight on a young 16 year old, gold medal winner, at the 2012 London Summer Olympics; Gabrielle Douglas. Time puts Gabby on the cover of their magazine because she has overcome many obstacles through gymnastic training and she is a role-model for young gymnasts or any young female athlete to fight for you dream and whatever it is, it is achievable. They use the play on words “Gymnast Gabby Douglas finds her balance” because a part of winning the all-round in the Olympics is the balance beam and she obviously found balance not only physically but figuratively finding balance in her life coming from a struggling family, income-wise. It’s a picture of her in action, showing that she is a dedicated athlete concentrated on her sport. The black background puts all the emphasis of the magazine cover on Gabby and keeps the topic of the Olympics simple so that the audience of who is reading it can focus on the one thing, which is Gabrielle Douglas. The fact that in the corner of the page the text says “Lochte vs. Phelps: A Team of Rivals”, says a lot about the success of the young gymnast because Michael Phelps is another incredible American athlete who has competed in the Olympics and won many medals but instead of him being the headline, it’s Gabby. The purpose of a magazine cover is to engage the audience into a captivating story about someone or something, and encourage people to buy it to find out more about the cover story or whatever pictures or text is on the cover. So when people see this magazine cover, the first thing they may see is a gymnast with perfect technique with the word “Olympics” beside her picture and since the Olympics are such a popular event, it sucks people into finding out more. In Mark Twain’s, Two Views of the Mississippi, Twain talks about learning the ways of the Mississippi river and finding out the meaning beneath certain signs of nature. In the same way this Time Magazine cover makes people curious in Gabby Douglas, Michael Phelps, or Ryan Lochte, find the story beneath their well-known victories in the Olympics and sports world.