For my visual text I chose of photograph of the falling of the Berlin wall. The Berlin wall was a wall constructed by the German Democratic Republic in August 1961. The wall cut off West Berlin from East Germany and East Berlin. Government officials opened the wall in 1989. The demolition of the wall began in June 1990.  And was completely demolished by 1992. The photograph I chose shows a chunk of the Berlin wall falling down. The chunk of the wall is falling onto the West German side where there are many West German soldiers and civilians standing nearby. On the other side of the wall there are four West German soldiers watching the wall fall down. 

This photograph, taken by Gerard Malie, is directed to the whole world. It displays the unification of East Germany and West Germany, which had been separated for thirty years. People all over the world rejoiced when they heard the news that the Berlin wall was being demolished. For years communist rulers oppressed citizens of East Germany. They were restricted from many common luxuries and the more important luxury of being able to see their friends and family located outside of East Germany. In the photograph you can the people of West Germany rejoicing that their nation is united again. The people are all extremely close to one another, many holding cameras, which shows the audience that this image is of a significant event. The people in the photograph are so close to one another because they are eager to see the falling of the wall and to be re-united with their friends and loved ones. 

There is no written text in this particular photograph, but the overall design is uplifting. On the bottom of the photograph where the piece of wall is falling many West German civilians and soldiers gather around. However, on the other side of the wall there are only East German soldiers. This is because the East side was communist and the west side was capitalist. On the communist side civilians would get shot just for getting close to the while, while on the capitalist side civilians could get up close to the wall (and even spray-paint it in protest!). While the past history of the wall is not uplifting, I believe this picture is uplifting because it shows the end of the oppression of East Germans. 

I believe that this photograph is demanding its audience to stand up against communism and oppression. When the wall existed it stood for those exact two things. The falling of the wall represents ideas of democracy and freedom. From this photograph I can picture in my head the East Germans protesting against communist oppression from Russia, and rejoicing at the sight of the Berlin wall being demolished. On the other side I can picture the West Germans who are rejoicing that they can finally see their family, friends, and fellow countrymen that they were unjustly separated from thirty years ago. 

There are many symbols employed in this photograph. The main symbol is the chunk of wall falling onto the West side of the wall. I believe this symbolizes the transition from communism and oppression to capitalism, freedom, and democracy. Another symbol are the East German soldiers looking at the chunk of wall fall to the ground. While the look very solemn, they also look relieved and some look slightly happy. I believe that all East German citizens, regardless of their occupation, wanted a unified nation. The last symbol is all of the West Germans watching the chunk of wall fall. They symbolize patience and joy. For so long the West Germans waited to see their family, friends, and countrymen that were separated by this communist wall. Now they were finally able to do so and you can see in the photograph that they are rejoicing by crowding around the wall. And although it is not shown the Germans began to rejoice even more by demolishing the walls themselves.

This image appeals very strongly to my emotions. I could not even comprehend what it would be like to be separated from my family and friends for a year, and they were separated for thirty! When I see this picture I am saddened, but at the same time I am happy because I know the East Germans are finally free from communist Russian oppression. They finally get to see family and friends, have common luxuries including food and toiletries, and get to be united as a nation again. I believe the photographer wanted this photograph to have a sympathetic and joyful emotional impact on the audience. The overall tone of this picture uplifting. The photographer uses an angle that shows the people rejoicing for freedom. However the photographer still captures dark images in the image. For instance the sky and the guards in the back of the image look very stern and gloomy. This could represent the millions of Germans who were oppressed before the wall came down. I feel sympathy for all of the German people. They were punished because of the evil acts committed by their government, but the majority of the German people were blind and innocent to the horrible crimes committed by their government in World War II. 

Because this photograph only shows a picture of a wall being demolished it would be hard for someone with no historical knowledge of this event to come up with unstated assumptions of it. The audience would have to know the history of Sanctioned Germany and the Berlin wall to truly capture the symbolism and emotion in this photograph.