A picture can give a good account of an event, but often times the picture the story the picture tells is skewed by the photographer's perspective. Such skewing can be seen in the two pictures appearing above which were both taken during a riot on a soccer field. In the picture on the right, the photographer shows multiple rioters on the attack against a field official while the one on the left shows the opposite; one or possibly two field officials running after fleeing rioters or fans with a metal pipe ready to be swung. Although these pictures are of two different riots; it is very possible that pictures like the ones above could be taken during the same riot. The two pictures both display the events of a riot during a soccer game, but give two completely different recollections of the event which shows just how drastically a photographer can alter how events are seen because of what each picture has in its foreground. Both backgrounds provide support to what the foreground is portraying.

The point of view of the picture on the right depicts the rioters as vigilantes. They seem to have only one thing in mind and that would be to destroy everything in their path. When viewers look at this picture the first thing they notice is what the foreground of the picture contains, the field official being attacked. In the foreground of the picture there are three rioters and only one official so to start out with he doesn't really stand much of chance. He is also in a defensive position with his arm up, and his torso leaning back away from his attackers. One of the attackers is using a chair. Although it is a plastic chair, it still adds to the stacked odds against the field official. In the background of the picture all of the other rioters seem to be running towards something behind the field official which makes it seem as though the main goal of the riot was actually not to attack the field official. The fact that background makes it seem as though the attacking of the field official was most likely not the main goal of the riot gives the viewer a stronger feeling of just how cruel the rioters are in that they are attacking this guy who is not fighting back. Due to this being the view point viewers would have it is most likely that they would side with those who would try to use more force against rioters in an effort to stop the riots entirely or at least make some rioters think twice before they begin storming soccer fields.

In the picture on the left the perspective is completely altered, the foreground portrays the fight in this riot is being initiated by the field official as he chases down the rioters with what looks like a fairly thick metal pipe. Most of the rioters are running in the opposite direction of the field official which shows that he is not trying to defend himself. Behind the field official it appears as though there may be another official aiding him along with the possibility of one more further in the background, however because most of this person is cutoff the viewer can only see the one official chasing down multiple rioters or fans. The rioters do not seem to be trying to cause any harm, and their not doing so invites the question: were they simple just fans who got a little too excited, decided to storm the field, and then met by a field official with a metal pipe who forced them to flee back towards the stands. In addition, the people in the background are running in the same as the ones being chased by field official. From this picture the viewer would not see the rioters as dangerous in anyway. Even though there are many different things that they could have done to cause mass chaos before this picture was taken, the picture was taken as they were retreating from the field official. It thus appears as though they may not be doing anything wrong, and the official is simply overreacting to the situation. Due to the perspective of this picture being the opposite extreme of the first picture, it would most likely be the case that viewers would feel as though the field officials have been afforded too much power in the attempt to combat the rioting and that it would probably be best for officials to take a more lenient approach.

Perspective on an event can greatly change the opinion someone has about that event. Although these pictures may not be of the same event, they very similar in nature. Both were obviously taken during riots at soccer games, and depict someone being attacked during the riot.  However the two pictures portray completely different scenes, one shows a single person being attacked by a many, and the other shows the opposite. The reason for this would simply be for the photographer to sway the opinions of his or her viewers. The photographer who put out the picture of the rioters attacking the one official would most likely side with the forces of order and against riots. By contrast, the photographer that took the picture of the official attacking all the rioters would most likely support the cause of the rioters.
