Draft

A Picture Speaks a Thousand Words 

“The Blunt Reality of War”

Upon first look, this photograph’s bluntness, is alarming and unnerving; it creates a sense of anxiety and anticipation. The eye will first see a rather young looking asian man down on his knees in the tall, green grass, with duct tape covering his mouth and eyes. From there, the eye will travel to the cut-off soldier in the background, holding both a gun and a cigarette. Lastly, the eye will travel down to unidentifiable object on the ground towards the bottom right hand side of the picture. To the untrained eye, it may go unnoticed, but the vectors of attention, framing and cropping plays a significant role in telling this story. 

What helps make this photograph such a captivating and powerful image is the vectors of attention, which form a triangle between the presumed prisoner, the soldier and the unidentified object. The young man is the first thing you see. This is due to the stark contrast of the lush green grass and the black of the man’s shirt and hair. He also sits right along the first vertical third. He is on his knees with his eyes and mouth taped shut and he is wearing what can be assumed as an identification tag. All humanity is being stripped away from this man by the soldiers, and being turned into a numbered prisoner.  The young man’s head is tilted up, as though he is pleading for mercy, and thus creates a vector line of attention from the tip of his chin up his face and to the soldier standing in the background. 

The eye now pauses on the soldier, and takes in that he is leaning on one leg, he’s got a one-handed grip on his gun, and he’s got a cigarette in the other hand. This soldiers entire demenier comes across as relaxed, calm and indifferent to the situation going on in front of him. It seems as though this soldier is used to the violence and the stakes of war. The lack of humanity is also being shown here by the cropping out of the shoulders face. He, like the young man, has no identity. The soldier is placed in the middle vertical thirds, not only standing taller than the assumed prisoner, but placed “higher” in the photograph than him as well. This clearly shows the power this soldier has, almost looming over the young man.

Finally, the vectors of attention bring one’s eyes down to this object. It is unclear what it is, but certain assumptions can be made given the context of the photograph. It is certainly an important aspect of the picture, because there are so many vector lines leading to this object. The tape on the young man’s face, the  young man’s shoulders, the gun, and the cigarettes all create vectors of attention pointing towards this object. One assumption that can be made is that this is a deceased body on the ground. This adds a new level of fear in not only the viewer of the photograph, but also the man on his knees. This body could be foreshadowing his fate and suggestive that he will soon end up like that as well. However, this object could be something else. The photographer may have chosen to leave this aspect of the picture mostly out of frame to create that anxiety in viewers, and leave them wondering what it is, and what happened to this young man.  

The simple background, however, also helps to tell part of the story. The long, green grass of this field is full and lush. This creates a contextual contrast. This violent scene is taking place in what one might consider a peaceful or beautiful place. It is for this exact reason that the photographer might have chosen to take a color photo of this scene. If this picture were in black and white, the grass could be dead and brown and the juxtaposition wouldn’t be present. 

The vectors work together to move one’s attention from different aspects of the photograph to another to tell a story. The rule of thirds places the important focal points of the composition on the intersections and lines of the imaginary grid, establishing space.  The golden triangle can be drawn between these important aspects make this a strong foundation. All of these methods work hand in hand to create a powerful and captivating composition. 

 

Final

Turmoil in Vietnam 

“The Blunt Reality of War”

Upon first look, this photograph’s bluntness, is alarming and unnerving; it creates a sense of anxiety and anticipation. The eye will first see a rather young looking asian man down on his knees in the tall, green grass, with duct tape covering his mouth and eyes. From there, the eye will travel to the cut-off soldier in the background, holding both a gun and a cigarette. Lastly, the eye will travel down to unidentifiable object on the ground towards the bottom right hand side of the picture. To the untrained eye, it may go unnoticed, but the vectors of attention, framing and cropping plays a significant role in telling this story. 

What helps make this photograph such a captivating and powerful image is the vectors of attention, which form a triangle between the presumed prisoner, the soldier and the unidentified object. The prisoner is the first thing you see. This is due to the stark contrast of the lush green grass and the black of the man’s shirt and hair. He also sits right along the first vertical third. He is on his knees with his eyes and mouth taped shut and he is wearing what can be assumed as an identification tag. All humanity is being stripped away from this prisoner by the soldiers, and instead, he is just another number.  The prisoners head is tilted up, as though he is pleading for mercy, and thus creates a vector line of attention from the tip of his chin up his face and to the soldier standing in the background. 

The eye now pauses on the soldier, and takes in that he is leaning on one leg, he’s got a one-handed grip on his gun, and he’s got a cigarette in the other hand. This soldiers entire demenier comes across as relaxed, calm and indifferent to the situation going on in front of him. It seems as though this soldier is used to the violence and the stakes of war. The lack of humanity is also being shown here by the cropping out of the shoulders face. He, like the prisoner, has no identity. The soldier is placed in the middle vertical thirds, not only standing taller than the prisoner, but placed “higher” in the photograph than him as well. This clearly shows the power this soldier has, almost looming over the prisoner.

Finally, the vectors of attention bring one’s eyes down to this object. It is unclear what it is, but certain assumptions can be made given the context of the photograph. It is certainly an important aspect of the picture, because there are so many vector lines leading towards this object. The tape on the prisoners face, the prisoners shoulders, the gun, and the cigarettes all create vectors of attention pointing towards this object. One assumption that can be made is that this is a deceased body on the ground. This adds a new level of fear in not only the viewer of the photograph, but also the prisoner on his knees.  This body could be foreshadowing his fate and suggestive that he will soon end up like that as well. However, this object could be something else. The photographer may have chosen to leave this aspect of the picture mostly out of frame to create that anxiety in viewers, and leave them wondering what it is, and what happened to this prisoner.  

The simple background, however, also helps to tell part of the story. The long, green grass of this field is full and lush. This creates a contextual contrast. This violent scene is taking place in what one might consider a peaceful or beautiful place. It is for this exact reason that the photographer might have chosen to take a color photo of this scene. If this picture were in black and white, the grass could be interpreted by the viewer as dead and brown, which would be fitting in a scenario like this, but the juxtaposition of beauty and danger wouldn’t be present. 

The vectors work together to move one’s attention from different aspects of the photograph to another to tell a story. The rule of thirds places the important focal points of the composition on the intersections and lines of the imaginary grid, establishing space.  The golden triangle can be drawn between these important aspects make this a strong foundation. All of these methods work hand in hand to create a powerful and captivating composition.