
On August 9, 2014 a young man named Michael Brown was shot by a police officer and died. The killing of Mike Brown caused many protests and riots in the small town of Ferguson Missouri. People came from all over the country to protest the shooting of the 18 year old. These riots were very dangerous causing the police to take serious action which upset the protestors even more. These photos that were taken of the riots each capture different moments but they all happen to represent the same thing.  Each photo shows the protestors in a small number up against a large number of armed and ready officers. In the photo from “Ferguson, Uncensored” by Tim Dickinson, there is a young man walking with his arms up and there are over five officers dressed in uniform. In another picture there is a young boy just standing alone with a whole group of officers on the other side of him. Also in the last picture once again there is a young protestor standing behind a line with officers ready and armed. Through the repeated pattern in every picture the photographers have been able to capture moments that show the overwhelming amount of armed officers treating the protestors unfair.

In the first picture from “Ferguson, Uncensored” Tim Dickinson captures a moment of a young man walking down the street with his arms up and approaching him are five armed officers. The man in this picture is walking with his hands up, most people understand that if someone has their hands up it is their way of saying “Do not shoot, I am not dangerous,” or “I surrender”. The number of officers is absolutely absurd considering the man is just walking down the side of the road and is obviously not dangerous but also the officers are armed and dressed in full uniform. They are approaching the young man as if he is a threat. The guns are pointed directly at him. The picture also captures the officers the best because they are in the middle ground of the picture so the viewer’s eyes go directly to them. The officers are menacing looking with their camouflage uniforms, helmets, and pointed guns. The protestors who felt they were being treated unfairly and the officers were attacking them can use this as a prime example. The number of officers is overwhelming compared to the one man. When a person first looks at the picture they would think that it is ridiculous that there is such a large number of officers and that is the point of the photograph. Tom Dickinson’s point is that the protestors were being treated unfairly and there is an absurd amount of officers compared to the protestors. 

Another example of the same problem is in the second picture. In this picture there is a young boy no older than 10 standing with a whole line of officers behind him. The young boys seems to be praying with his hands together and eyes closed. The police behind him are all standing shoulder-to-shoulder in a line with bullet proof vests and are ready for trouble. This photograph is symbolic of Ferguson at the time. The young boy is praying hoping that the problems will go away just like the citizens of Ferguson. Nobody wanted the riots to start or even continue but just like the little boy they prayed that it would all end and they would soon get peace. However, this picture I different in the sense of placement. The little boy is in the center of the picture and the officers are in the background.  Since the boy is in the middle he is the main focus. When the viewer looks at this the initial feeling is sad. There is a little boy standing in the middle of the road praying during a traumatic time with a line of police officers standing behind him. Even though the officers are protecting themselves and just standing there in caution of something happening it still looks bad when there is an unarmed, young boy standing in the middle of the road praying. Once again this picture captures a moment of the riots that shows how the officers treated the protestors unfairly. 

One last example of the repeated pattern of the protestors being treated wrongly is in the last picture. This picture once again shows a young man standing behind a line and on the other side of the line are over six armed officers with guns. This picture is different than the others, it is assumed that the yellow line the man is standing behind is the line that protestors cannot step over. It is smart that the officers have the line because then they know when it is ok to arrest someone for breaking the rules. However, this man is behind the line so the officers who have the guns pointed at him are being a little over the top. Also, the man in this picture is blind folded which is different than the others and there are also photographers documenting the whole thing.  This picture is showing that the officers are pointing their guns at a man who is standing behind the line and is doing nothing against the rules, he is just practicing his right to protest peacefully. One thing a viewer might think is that the reason the officers have their guns pointed is because the man is awfully close to the line and they are just protecting themselves. Yes, they are protecting themselves but the point of the line is that it is a safe space and the protestors should be able to voice their opinions and not feel threatened. Just like the other pictures this photograph makes the viewer feel like the police are treating the protestors unfairly. 

All of three of these pictures represent the same thing. Whether it be the first picture where the young man is walking with his hands up of the one of the young boy praying each picture is the same. They all show that the protestors are being treated unfairly. The overwhelming number of police, the guns, and the fact that they are ready to attack protestors who are not doing anything wrong all prove that the protestors were being treated wrong. The photographers did a good job of capturing each moment because in every picture the viewer will walk away thinking, “Wow these police are treating the protestors unfairly.”   