In the "Photo Essay of the Bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki," the images used were intended to make the viewer upset. The preceding description and information provided about the bombing also helps readers attempt to grasp the devastation caused by the atomic bombs dropped on Japan: "Almost immediately a fireball was created from which were emitted radiation and heat rays, and severe shock waves were created by the blast" ("A Photo-Essay on the Bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki"). The photos following the small paragraphs explaining the bombing are pictures of devastated cities, caused by the United States. The colors, photos chosen, and what makes up each photo have a large impact on what the opinion of a person viewing this essay may be.

Since the images taken are older, the coloring and quality is not what people are used to seeing in the twenty first century. Most of the pictures are black and white, which makes the devastation more saddening because black symbolizes death. A few of the photos are made up of duller colors, which also make the pictures more bland and depressing to look at. Pictures with brighter colors and better quality tend to give a more positive vibe. Bright colors are cheerful, and they have the connotation of happiness and vibrancy. In order to make the situation of the bombing duller and more heart wrenching, the lack of color and brightness really helps provide that. Darker, washed out colors provide a duller feeling. 

The first photo in the sequence grabs the viewers' attention because it is a photo of one of the two atomic bombs blowing up. The picture shows the bomb appearing to be very large and destructive and is black and white; the black symbolizing death. The photo is a shot taken from a satellite camera, and the explosion is huge. The picture being first in the sequence helps capture the force of an atomic bomb and is intended to put it into perspective for people. The photo of the mass explosion also helps put the power of the atomic bomb into perspective for those who do not understand how much of a devastating impact an atomic bomb can have on a city. 

 The pictures chosen to be in the essay also have a great impact on the viewer because the author could have chosen photos that made the cities appear to be less destroyed than they actually were were. People's homes, businesses, and towns were blown away to nothing, but Americans and people around the world never would have known about it, had photos not been displayed around the world. The photo of the plant providing a shadow on a pole helps add to the intensity of the situation because it shows that everything was impacted, including plants and electricity poles. The two photos shown next to each other with the lone standing tree and the lone standing structure help put the city into perspective to understand how much had been ruined. The tree barely has any leaves left on it, and the lone structure looks as though it is about to tumble over, like the rest of the homes and surrounding structures. 

Not only do the photos of structures and homes being demolished have a negative affect on viewers, but also the pictures of every day items that can never be used again have an impact on the opinions that people have of the bombings. For example, the photos of the binoculars and a lunch box will make people relate to the demolition because it helps remind viewers that there were actually people in this city affected by the bombs. Since there is a lunch box that has been ruined, a child most likely was going to eat that lunch that day. One thing that most people relate to is a child. Children imply innocence and are typically seen as harmless. Some children are raised to be evil and destructive, but a child with a lunch box brings back memories to adults when they were children and the photo can remind people of their years in school when they used to carry a lunch box. The melted bottles also become relatable to people because glass bottles are used all over the world. Everyone has seen a glass bottle, and not everyone has seen the streets of Nagasaki and Hiroshima before they were destroyed by the atomic bombs. The bombs had such an impact on Japan and it destroyed everything in its path, up to melting glass bottles from inside a home. Only eight percent of Hiroshima escaped damage and thirty six point one percent of Nagasaki escaped damage; the cities were truly overwhelmed with destruction- complete livelihoods were gone.

The most devastating pictures out of the photo essay are the two pictures before the last one. These hit viewers the most because they are photographs of people. Most people do not want to look at pictures of dead people. Photos of people who have lost their lives become more relatable because everyone at some point in their life experiences death and experiences the sadness of a loved one dying. Right after these pictures is a photo of a horse that has been burned by the atomic bomb. Along with dead and injured human beings, people do not like to see injured or dead animals. Animals and humans suffering from harmful things, like an atomic bomb, typically disturb humans the most because animals are very lovable and seem to have personalities. Animals are a part of a human's everyday life so putting the picture of dead animals and people help put the devastation of the bomb into perspective for those unable to see the tragedy first hand.

Many people try to make the devastation of Nagasaki and Hiroshima appear to be less detrimental, but all things within the path of the explosion were demolished. The Japanese are still seeing effects of the devastation to this mass destruction of their homeland; their families and children have suffered many birth defects due to the nuclear radiation. The birth defects continue to be passed down within their families, becoming a trait. These birth defects were caused by the radioactivity in the atomic bomb. The radioactivity was unavoidable for the Japanese people and there was not as good of an understanding of radioactivity as there is now in the twenty first century. The people did not know that breathing in the air would be poison and not only harm them, but it would harm their families in the future as well.   

This brief photo essay incorporates many the things that were destroyed during the bombing of Nagasaki and Hiroshima. It shows photos of plants, buildings, humans, structures, bottles, and animals that have been harmed, injured, or destroyed. It flattens everything in its path, no matter what it is. Nothing within the distance of the bomb could be saved from suffering consequences of the explosion. People who live outside of the areas damaged by the bombs were also harmed due to the radioactive material in the air. The atmosphere that the inhabitants of Japan were breathing in was not clean, harming the population, and it continues to harm the population to this day through birth defects. Both of the atomic bombs caused a mass destruction and the photos really help put that destruction into perspective.

