Power of visual Moreover, Lean In Collection acknowledges the influential and powerful qualities that visuals can have on our society. In fact, it makes a truth claim that images have power. Truth claims are "the natural way of things" (Rose 215). Photographs often suggest content is real through the context or a caption. However, this can be misleading as not all images are "found" rather than "staged" (Martin 49). Photography's particular assertions, statements, and claims can provide the opportunity for deception. Martin suggests "we know not to believe-not to take the representations at face value-for the objects may be constructed, directed, distorted, or manipulated to provide the desired effect" (52). It is extremely important not to take visual representations at face value because they make not be an accurate portrayal of reality. On a similar thought, Scott advises building a healthy skepticism towards institutionalized ways of looking (5). This is one trait of being a critical consumer.

Lean In Collection claims that images are powerful because photographs are specifically able to capture evidence of what is real and accurate. Pam Grossman, Getty Images' director of visual trends, claims, "images have an immediate emotional impact and deliver messages that affect us consciously and unconsciously on a deep level" (Large). They are influential because they impact individuals on a deep level.

Sheryl Sandberg continually reiterates in interviews that, "you can't be what you can't see" (Sellers). Other scholars have noted that we live in a world where "seeing is believing" (Li 1). Sandberg believes that there is currently a real lack of leadership in the visual representation of women in the media. As a result, women do not strive for leadership roles or to be empowered because they do not see other women represented as doing so in the media. Sandberg believes that once females view the Lean In Collection of empowered women, they will be able to strive to be like these women as well. Images have considerable power to influence individuals' perceptions, worldviews, and even behaviors. Lean In Collection strives to enable others to envision a more inclusive world, or so they say.

According to Ceulemans, participation of women in the labor force and professional occupations has grown substantially since 1947 (7). Even though this number has risen, the media has yet to fully realize the breadth of their professional accomplishments. A study performed in 1976 observed that "no women were shown as lawyers, doctors, judges, or scientists" in print and television advertising from 1970-1964 (Ceulemans 8). This finding reveals that there is still considerable work to be done to represent women accurately in contemporary society.

Although there are many ways in which the media can improve its portrayal of women, there are signs of positive change. For example, exploitation of women as sexual objects is decreasing in both the magazine and television advertising. This is significant, as women feel their self-esteem is diminished and their human potential unrealized when presented merely as a sex object. However, "the decrease in sex-object images of women is further compensated by an increased emphasis on female physical beauty" (Ceulemans 9). Women are now being represented as alluring, decorative, or traditional.

One example of this that depicts how powerful images can be is the photograph of the professional interior designer wearing the purple blouse. The blonde woman addresses the camera front on with a friendly smiling facial gesture, signaling to the viewer that she is approachable and relatable. The close up of this woman prevents the viewers from feeling distanced and uninvolved in her activities. This subject illustrates to viewers that a woman can have a professional career and creative talents while being happily married and self-confident in her career position. This "slice-of-life" moment is portrayed as authentic and truthful to what this woman does with her life and career. Within this space, the reader is "invited to dream in the ideological space of the photograph" (Lutz & Collins 357). Due to the photograph's ambiguity, the viewer's imagination is provoked and the photo permits fantasy. Here, female viewers would be able to fantasize about being in her place and imagine themselves in a similar professional setting. Lean In Collection wants its viewers to experience these fantasies so that they eventually believe them and strive to be like the woman in this photo. Another truth claim that arises in this collection is that women need to be convinced that they are empowered because they do not currently believe this to be true. The whole collection serves to persuade females that they are able to take control of their own life and be confident in their role as a daughter, sister, friend, mother, and/or wife. This persuasion is necessary because women and girls still do not entirely realize this truth. Grossman expresses "we're really trying to visualize a new world" (Wagner). Since not everyone knows this world as Lean In Collection understands, they still need to convince viewers of its magnitude and importance. Moreover, "empowerment, a buzzword that seems to have permeated all areas where social, economic and political ills are battled, has not achieved a consensus in its conceptualization and operationalization" (Li 1). To clarify what exactly empowerment means to the institutions, Getty Images and LeanIn.Org, they need to concretely define what it means in their promotional material. A photograph that demonstrates a new world of the females' role in society is the image of the woman wearing glasses with a baby. She is represented as nurturing because she cares about and considers the baby on her lap. Also, she is shown to be focused, serious, and hard working. Even though this woman is depicted to be multitasking responsibilities of taking care of the baby and working on her laptop, she seems calm and in control. She is not stressed, strained, or struggling to juggle all of the demands put on her. This woman is fully capable of managing her everyday jobs and behaves accordingly. She has a child and is empowered at the same time. This images works as a counter hegemonic female identity. Key themes Throughout the stock photographs and rhetoric used to describe the collection are a number of key themes. Key themes are "key words or recurring visual images" (Rose 210). One theme throughout the visual images was the female subject being pictured as the "protagonist of her own story" and the "hero of their image", which is achieved by depicting the females as obtaining agency and being in control (Perez). The females are actively involved in creating a life of their own by speaking, leading meetings, and showing through their gestures that it's their ideas being expressed within the images (Sellers). In addition, another theme is that the females are dressed in attire that is acceptable, respectful, and most often professional. The females are presented as classy and lady-like. These features play into what Lean In Collection provides as a standard of beauty for the viewers. This standard includes a variety of races, age, body types, career, and families. Great diversity is represented in the collection of 2,500 images. Moreover, a key theme is the professional and empowered qualities inherent in these female figures. The women are represented as serious, powerful, hard working, and beautiful in an effort to offer a more positive image of females worldwide. An example of this is the image portraying a woman and man in a workshop, holding tools. The woman is involved in a project that requires tools and is part of a conversation with a male counterpart, which serves to display her as empowered. She appears busy on the job and energetic to be where she is. It appears as is she is collected, composed, and professional in her work environment. Overall, Lean In Collection markets its archive as one that features empowered, diverse, and professional women. It "avoids stereotypical portrayals of women in favor of more realistic life moments" (Large). However, while it does make visible the need for empowered women leaders in our society, it makes invisible the possibility that Getty Images and Lean In are "capitalizing on an existing trend" of women, feminism, and empowerment that in contemporary society (Garber). It also makes invisible certain subjects, objects, and practices within its institutional apparatus. This is vital to consider because within discourse analysis "absences can be as productive as explicit naming; invisibly can have just as powerful effects as visibility" (Rose 191). Discourse Analysis II