Slika ne sporoča zgolj informacije o objektu, ki je na njej (denotativni nivo), pač pa je objekt na sliki povezan tudi s širšim setom označenega, z našo kulturo in zgodovino (konotativni nivo) in kot tak proizvede ideološko sporočilo.
A picture does more than communicate information about the subject shown (the denotative level); the subject is also related to the wider set of the signified, i.e. our culture and history (the connotative level), and as such it conveys an ideological message.