
My roommate and I have had this poster in our dorm since the first week of school, I wake up to this image every morning and fall asleep viewing the same photo every night. You could say easily that I have looked over nearly every detail in the frame. The picture, captured by Dimitrios Kambouris at the viewing of Kanye West’s “Yeezy Season 3” fashion show and album debut, can result in many different opinions. Kambouris changes how many will view and interpret West and his ideals after using various visual effects to draw the eye of the reader to the focus of his work. 

In this work of art, Kanye West stands in a crowd, yet alone. Kambouris focuses his camera on the close shot, making the thousands behind him seem unfocused and blurry. He is surrounded by these people, most of them friends or fans of his work. The photographer sets up the scene in a medium/close up shot, drawing the viewer’s attention towards Kanye. In this instance, many people can see the image in different ways. The intent of this poster is to shed light on how powerful West is, and I believe that the artist’s target audience are young adults around my age. This may be different from many other views from kids my age, but the first thing I saw when we hung the poster up on our wall was the depiction of a holy figure. At this point in the show, West’s eyes are closed while he listens to his album’s introduction, and it looks as if he is praying to god with his hands raised high to the heavens. Furthermore, the models at his event are all still. The models do not say a word and listen to the music almost like they are in a church, listening to gospel music. Growing up in a strong Christian household might’ve made that more noticeable at first to me, but I do firmly believe that the image presented can be interpreted the same way by a majority of the target audience. This tone created makes it seem more and more like a church than a stadium, with all of Kanye’s followers singing along with his music, as well as showing their love for the character. The picture gives Mr. West an almost inhuman feel, the fact that he has his hands up, eyes closed, when neither is really necessary in the instance reminds me greatly of many images of church, where many hold their hands high while they praise the lord. 

The first thing you see in the foreground is Kanye himself. But if you look closer to the people in the background, the people in the mid ground behind him, as well as the few that stand on either side of him in the front of the frame, you can see that the crowd also nearly worships him as an idol. As the almost to perfect light shines down from the top right hand corner of the frame, the many people imitating him in the background becomes apparent. Those following the actions of West portray him once again as Christ, with many followers who walk in his path. Also, most characters in the background are staring at him, drawn in by his overall figure in this instance. Even some are recording him on their cameras. The average person my age looks up to Kanye, a character we’ve all grown up with as he’s developed his work and artistry, but I believe many older people look at this image and do not see the same thing younger people do. They might see a human with an ego way too big for his own good. Most people not within 5-10 years of my generation, however, believe his music is bad, his taste is bad, and overall just have a dislike for him. They don’t understand the fashion, the following, or the music(which is understandable for many older people and new music). Still, those same people are the same ones who could make the comment that he’s acting like he’s God or Christ, which is where I believe many hold a similar opinion. 

Without a doubt Kanye West is a talented individual. He has a following that goes unmatched in the current era. Whether or not he is depicted as a god, he has a massive audience that will listen to his ideas and his artistry. To millions, he is an icon, and despite the common notation by those same fans that he is an idol to be looked up to and followed, people across the world may see him differently. Dimitrious Kambouris shows West as an inhuman being to me, but against the central idea Kambouris is trying to get across, the whole atmosphere of this image can be viewed differently by people with different ideals and beliefs. 
