On August 9th, 2014 Michael Brown was fatally shot and killed by a Ferguson police officer. The following day, the city erupted into protests and riots. Many reporters descended on the city to photograph and document the protests. Among those journalists was Tim Dickinson, who published a photo essay on Rolling Stone following the event. Dickinson’s photo essay, “Ferguson, Uncensored”, documents the aftermath of a Brown’s death in Ferguson, Missouri. Dickinson used a range of mid-range, close-up, and extreme close ups to depict the protest. The type of shots combined with the colors and lighting give a lot of information about what was taking place in Ferguson. In “Ferguson, Uncensored,” Dickinson uses the perspective of the protestor, a variety of angled shots, and contrasting color choices to show that police forces in the USA today are far too militarized.

Dickinson effectively uses the close up shot multiple times throughout his photo essay. Many people think of a close up shot as a head shot, but it is not. A close up shot usually has a single subject, and allows the viewer to be able to tell interpret their emotions. It is easier to see the emotions as the face is more clearly depicted. The image shown above is from Dickinson’s photo essay and is a good example of a close up shot. This first image is one of a Missouri state trooper heavily armed and wearing riot gear, a gas mask, and a bullet proof vest. All the of the equipment worn by this officer resembles a military force. What speaks more about the situation, however, are the trooper’s eyes. We can see the seriousness in this trooper’s intra-diegetic gaze, focused on something within his environment.  It furthers Dickinson’s message that the police are over militarized. The officer is portrayed as what would commonly be called a trained soldier, all that is different is the “TROOPER” on his chest. The photo itself is visually pleasing because the colors in the foreground are analogous. Green, blue-green, and blue are all next to each on the color wheel. The colors work together and blend, naturally drawing our attention into the photo. The focus of the picture is clearly on the man in front, while the man to his left is slightly in focus. The figures in the background of the photo are distorted to the point they are unrecognizable. This is intentionally done to direct our focus, as the photographer wants us to see the militarization of the police.

The next type of photo shot that was used in his essay is an extreme close up. While it is similar to a close up shot, the subject in an extreme close-up takes up the whole panel. The subject is the panel. This close up only allows focus on the officer, perched looking through the scope of a sniper rifle There are two telling aspects of this photo that speak clearly about the protests in Ferguson and the police response. First the focus of the officer as he looks into his scope. His intra-diegetic gaze is fierce, aware of the lethal weapon in his hand, as he looks out of the frame into his enviorment. His face is a focus point of photo, a patch of white skin surrounded by green. The contrast pulls our gaze to his face and eye. The other contrasting colors in the photo are dark green and light blue. The light color background gives us a clear contrast to the darkly colored officer, bringing every detail into focus. The second aspect speaks to the officer’s training. As we can see in the photo his trigger finger is not on the trigger. In basic firearm training classes instructors teach their trainees to only have their finger on the trigger when ready to shoot. These men are well trained, ready for combat-like situations. Through the photographers use of an extreme close up, as well as the colors in the photo, we are drawn to the subject. The officer in the picture is a clear representation of the over-militarization of the police, not only in Ferguson Missouri, but in The United States.

In his article, Dickinson breaks down the images of what happened, and writes about the police militarization. He first says “Citizens voicing righteous grievance about racial injustice and police violence have been met with a horrifying, militarized police response” (Dickinson). The words directly correlate with the images, a military force, but instead of “ARMY”,  their riot gears reads “POLICE”. He goes on to talk about the means used by police including tear gas, rubber bullets, and sonic cannons. All these things sound like they belong in a country in the middle of a civil war, not the streets of a city in The United States. Police in Ferguson were blatantly violating the first amendment rights of the protestors. They corralled media so that the protests could not be adequately covered, and their actions not depicted on national news. The article states that multiple photographers were arrested for straying from the designated media areas, preventing photographers from trying to cover the protests to the best of the ability

 Differing shots are effective at helping us to understand a time or an event we were not present for. As written above, Dickinson used both close ups and extreme close ups throughout his essay. Close ups allow us to see the situation and the emotions of the people in the photograph. Extreme close ups bring us further into the emotions of a single subject, and don’t allow us anything else in the photo for us to look, as the point is for us to focus on what the photographer wants us to. Both types of shots further the reader’s understanding of the essay. The photographer used contrasting and analogous colors throughout this photo essay to draw our attention to the militarization of the police force. Contrasting colors make certain areas of the photo pop out, areas the photographer wants to focus on. Analogous colors blend together and seem to be coherent, tying everything together. Dickinson effectively meshed colors, angles, and shot types to depict the police force as a military force. A force not required for the protests in Ferguson after Brown’s death. 
