Visual elements in a painting or photo help the reader to notice important parts of the image and helps certain details “pop”. It’s important to have visual elements because if not viewers would get tired of looking at paintings and photos if they were always the same color and didn’t have anything special about them that stood out from the others. In this paper, I will discuss the affects that the visual elements presented have on viewers. By looking at composition, balance, and perspective we can see that the photographer really wanted our attention to be brought to the flags on the caskets in the photo. These elements are extremely important because if they were present then it might be confusing what the artist wanted the main focus of the photo to be and it wouldn’t be as obvious to viewers.

Composition is a very big visual element that was present. When looking at the photo the first thing that the viewers will notice  is the coffins with the flags on them. The reason that the flags stand out so much is because the soldiers that are standing off to the side and the parachutes on the opposite side of the plane are creating a frame for the coffins, this is showing the importance that the coffins play on the photograph and that it’s the main focus of the photo. Since the coffins are surrounded by the soldiers it gives off the gesture  of the soldiers  honoring their fallen brothers and sisters. Another thing that I noticed was  that  the  soldiers are       

directly across from the war equipment, this is ironic because soldiers are usually thought of as “equipment of war” since they fight for our freedom. The colors that were used in the photo also really stood out. The dark colors act as the frame of the caskets and then the caskets are what’s inside of the frame and they are the really bright and colorful colors. The flags on the coffins are very bright and colorful, while the soldier’s uniforms are dark with greens and browns, this makes the flags seem very alive. It’s a little weird that the caskets seem more alive than the soldiers do because the people in the caskets are dead. 

Another visual element that was in the photograph was balance and the symmetrical aspect as well. The manufactured lines on the flags bring out the straightness and closeness of the soldiers that are standing off to the side. The soldiers and caskets are both in a straight line and not spread out all over the place, they are in a very orderly fashion and well organized. I feel like the soldiers almost even look like they were sewn together in a straight line just like the stripes on the flags were. The symmetry also gives the affect that there are a lot more caskets because if they were spread out randomly they would take up a lot more room and the stripes        wouldn’t make the caskets look so long. 

The last visual element that was present in the photograph was perspective. The angle that this photo was taken makes it look like there are a lot more caskets than what there really is, I feel like this is the reason that the photographer chose to take the picture at this angle. I think that by using birds eye view in the photo it makes the lines on the flags stand out and makes it look like it’s going on in infinity and that there is an abundance of caskets. Since the lines on the flags give the affect that there are a lot more caskets than there actually are it also makes the deaths feel like they are casualties and it can symbolize public grief since we can’t see any of fallen soldier’s faces. The angle that the photo was taken also makes it look like there are a lot of         

war equipment on the other side of the plane, if it were taken at a regular angle and not in birds eye view then it wouldn’t look like there was so much equipment. 

When people usually look at painting or photographs they don’t really think about the visual elements that are present, they are just drawn to certain details that stick out to them. The visual elements are important because it helps for the reader to see the main focus point of the painting or photo. By using composition, balance, and perspective in this photo it is easy to see that the main focal point is caskets. This photo sets a very sad and emotional mood for the photo because it makes people face reality that people are putting their life on the line to fight for our freedom, and many of those brave men and women are losing their lives in the meantime. If the photographer wouldn’t have used these elements, then I don’t believe that the point of the photo would have been so obvious and set the same mood for viewers either. 
