
At first glance the picture taken by Nilüfer Demir is just a boy in the sand.  But, upon further investigation one can see that this little boy had drowned.  For some that is enough information and they don’t care to learn anymore about what exactly is going on in this photograph.  For others this picture has so much to look at. There is so much to dissect within this image.  For instance: the relatability, the angle it was taken at, and the clear background and foreground.   All of these aspects together were carefully thought about and lead to this image being one of the most recognizable photographs of the past year. 

Before dissecting this image into its different parts one must first have a little bit of background information.  The drowned boy in the photo is three-year-old Aylan Kurdi from Kobani.  He was travelling to the Greek island Kos, with 12 other people when their boat capsized and he drowned.  Aylan was found washed up on the shore of a Turkish beach.  Unfortunately, this is not the first time a refugee has drowned, or even been photographed.  The reason Demir’s photo went viral was because of how easy it was for people all around the world to relate to the little boy.   Now if you look at the image you will notice that the Aylan’s attire is not out of the ordinary for a three-year-old boy.  He is wearing a red t-shirt, jean shorts, and Velcro tennis shoes.  You could be walking down the streets of a suburban neighborhood in California and see the exact same outfit on another three-year-old boy.  For that reason, this photo spread like wildfire because for many people out there they could see themselves or loved ones in that little boy.  

Demir did not just happen to take this photo by luck, this image had a lot of thought put into it.  For example, she had to find the perfect angel to capture everything she wanted to capture.  She easily could have taken a picture which left out the fishermen in the background.  Seeing the two fisherman in the back of this image can portray how seeing this drowned boy is almost common for them.  The fishermen do not seem to be at all fazed by the corpse of a three-year-old boy which had just been washed ashore.  One can conclude simply from that, that this was indeed more common than one wants to think.  Because the frame of this picture is so wide one can also see that there is no gathering crowd on the beach.  If this boy had washed up on Myrtle Beach in South Carolina then you know there would be hundreds of people, news reporters and civilians trying to get a peek at what is going on.  This can also lead one to conclude that again this must be a common occurrence for people in Turkey. 

Another clever technique used by Demir is how she does not focus on one central object in the photograph.  Instead she took an unfocused shot which allowed numerous features of the image to be equally represented.  For example, it cannot truly be argued what the focal point of this image is.  One could argue that it is the boy since the investigator is taking a picture of him.  One could also argue that the investigator with his back turned is the focal point of the image since his body is in the middle of the image.  Due to this technique a viewer can see the pieces of trash which lie on the beach.  Although tiny these pieces of trash hold great significance.  Because the photographer was able to capture these pieces of trash it can be said that the little boy is almost a parallel to trash in the eyes of many European countries.  One of the controversies brought about by this image was that Europe does not pay enough attention to the refugee problem at hand.  Many people argued that the European Union has been throwing the issue of refugees away, like one would throw away trash.  Since Demir was able to capture these tiny pieces of trash she gave many people the proof they were looking for to demonstrate this was an actual issue.  

One last technique used by Demir was her timing.  Timing can loop all of these important techniques into one large technique.  Due to Demir’s near perfect timing one can gather so much information from this image.  The emotions on display by everyone in this image really capture the feelings which one would expect to see at this type of scene.  If you start with the fishermen in the background he has a look of curiousness.  His arms are crossed and he is peeking perfectly around one of the investigators to see what exactly is going on at the shoreline.  Next if you look at the investigator facing the photographer his face seems to be a combination of sorrow, confusion, and disgust.  He is walking away having gotten what he needed and he rightly is disgusted that Syria is in a state where a three-year-old boy would have to risk his life to avoid being killed.  It is this exact thought process which will lead him to his feelings of sorrow and confusion.  The investigator with his back to the photographer seems to be very closed off.  His shoulders are hunched over and his head is bowed down.  This could be due to him writing something down or even his body-language showing his remorse for Aylan.  Lastly you can see the emotion on Aylan’s lifeless body.  The emotion on little Aylan’s body is that of having no life.  His eyes are closed, his arms lay by his side, and his pants are even partially pulled down- most likely due to the current.  

Even though this is a somber image the skill which it took in order to get this perfect image is unbelievable.  Demir used her many talents to make sure she caught the perfect image which would communicate the messages and emotions she wanted to get across.  Her overall clear image allows the viewer to see what is going on at the scene. This clearness was achieved by her perfect timing.  If she hadn’t had perfect timing we would not see the emotion on display by the fishermen in the background, and we would not see the pieces of trash which were also washed up onto the shore.  All of these skills put together led to an image which was heard around the world, and sent a wakeup call to many European nations to stress the importance of addressing the issue of refugees now.   
