Interpretation is different for everyone and everyone will have their own views and opinions about a piece, it’s hard to characterize a picture with one finite description.   Imagery is a very powerful way of communicating because subconsciously we are interpreting the message when we don’t even know it sometimes, so it forces us to think.  I chose an image that really doesn’t tell one thing, although it tells a story.  There’s a story behind the picture and it’s all about how you interpret the picture, this is how I interpreted it.

I thought a lot about this image and I think it has several messages in many ways and some people may even interpret it differently.  What I took away from this picture and what I think the main idea the artist wanted to get across is corruption and poverty.  These two ideas have huge ties throughout history and it has been repeated over and over and this picture captures the true evidence of that.  Corruption and poverty have repeated themselves over again and again throughout history, what I mean by that is, government structures and businesses are corrupting society and taking all the money and making more and more while the people who have no money are earning less and less.  Its been a continuous cycle throughout history and our society, this picture may not show the monetary side that I was referring to but its showing a soldier right next to a man with a gun pointing it at another man.  The soldier should stop him but it appears he’s just watching or even encouraging him.  I feel like the soldier is hard to place, he’s sending mixed signals.  For instance, he appears to be on the way to save this man although I feel like he could’ve prevented this situation from getting to this point.  Our societies perspective has been so skewed that someone who is poor is looked at less than someone with wealth or importance.  

This picture was obviously taken in a bad location; in the background you can see torn down buildings.  Given that the area is rundown and poor, this behavior is seen as acceptable and common.  It makes the audience feel bad for this man in this situation and makes you realize how fortunate we are to live In the part of the world that we live in.  Almost everyone could never picture themselves in this scenario, which is why it’s so eye opening and it really makes you think about the other parts of the world.  The man holding the gun seems so emotionless even though he has a gun pointed at another mans head, so this man has obviously been in this situation before given the fact that he’s so calm.  That also means that if he’s been in this situation before that tells you something about the area that they’re in, if it was a decent environment there wouldn’t be “killers” walking around pointing guns at people and the soldiers sure wouldn’t just let it slide by.  I think that the way the one man has his hands behind his back shows his innocence and that he really shouldn’t have a gun pointed at his head.  The look on his face also shows the same thing, he looks so terrified and frightened for his life and it appears that he has blood coming out of his mouth and looks beaten up.  So this man was obviously being tortured or either beaten.

Given that this is in a poor community it isn’t as shocking compared to as if this picture was in a fancy restaurant in an expensive city, because that would just never happen.  The picture is in black in white because it’s a dull and scary time you would associate with dull colors.  But you can tell the gun is very shiny as if its trying to stand out, I feel like the artist wanted it to be the focus.  The gun it connecting the two men on either side, even though these men probably don’t know each other or have a connection.  They are connected by the gun and the tension that the gun provides, the man on the right is probably praying for his life and this man doesn’t shoot him.  The man on the right had the power to shoot him, the gun is giving him power over this other man and that could even be the reason that the soldier hasn’t stepped in.  

Its extremely empowering having control over someone and that’s probably what the man on the left is feeling and the message is pretty much the same thing as that.  That’s why I think corruption over the poor still goes on today, people feel strong and powerful when they’re in charge and control like that.  It can easily take over your mind and you can be blinded by your power.  That could even be what’s happening here, and that could be why he’s showing no emotion, his corruption is taking over his emotions.  Also the soldier should be stopping this situation from escalating but even they’re corrupt in this famished area and they just live a different type of system and the monetary supply in the area is definitely an issue and a cause for all the issues revolving around.

 