Percurso fotográfico da pandemia: comparativo semiótico de imagens publicadas no Instagram do G1, antes e depois da vacinação contra a Covid-19

Abstract

This research aims to analyze the photojournalistic narrative construction of G1, on Instagram, regarding the Covid-19 pandemic, before and after the beginning of vaccination in Brazil. Furthermore, the analysis process raises some reflective questions about the narrative path and the construction of meanings concerning the pandemic period. In this perspective, the methodological process of this research is based on Charles Sanders Peirce's (1839-1914) studies on the semiotic analysis, addressing how this field operates in investigating the processes of creation, perception, and signification of photographs. This study proposal, which is theoretically supported by the insights of Lúcia Santaella, one of the main disseminators of semiotics and Peirce's thought in Brazil, allows identifying if there has been a change in the photographic narrative of the images published in the selected object. Thus, the hypothesis is that images published before vaccination may have presented more dramatic, sad, and melodramatic visual characteristics, reflecting the number of Covid-19 cases and deaths. In contrast, after the onset of vaccination, the photographs may have adopted a more hopeful, optimistic, and courageous tone, despite the still alarming numbers of disease cases and mortality. The conclusion drawn reveals that the visual representation of the pandemic was significantly more complex than a simple aesthetic dichotomy. The impact of these images extends beyond the initial shock or subsequent hope, instead becoming embedded in more profound discursive layers that intersect with memory, politics, and the archiving (and potential forgetting) of historical events within society.