The image from New York Times shows the aftermath of the devastating storm, Hurricane Matthew, after it dismantled Haiti and began its course to the coast of Florida and South Carolina. Many features in this photograph illustrate the effects this storm had on the country and the lives of the people that live there. With the terrible tragedy of Hurricane Matthew there will be many hardships that countless citizens will have to accept and face to overcome the disaster. Various features are discussed to describe how the picture is shown in the eyes of the viewers. For example, the photographer captured content, lines, colors, shading, coherence, and contrast to show the viewers the disastrous consequences of the hurricane.

One of many elements, which is content is captured in this picture does not include just the destruction of the town. It shows the struggle that the citizens are going to have to face in order to recover from this natural disaster. The woman wading through the flowing muddy water exhibited this. The woman seen in the picture is pushing a wheelbarrow through her flooded town carrying, which could be assumed to have her remaining belongings in. This shows the viewer that these people affected by the storm now have very little, and possibly even nothing at all, except the clothes on their back. Also, the rubble and trash in piles on the streets with muddy water flowing through them along with the remaining structures of buildings illustrates how the city was trashed by this hurricane. From that, the viewer can assume that the people suffering from losing so much have a large amount of hardships ahead of them. The content of this photo is very straightforward in showing the viewer what the main purpose is by showing the aftermath of Hurricane Matthew while also displaying the woman’s obvious struggle and upcoming hardships. There are many elements shown in this image including lines that can contribute in showing evidence of hard times. 

There are countless numbers of lines in this photograph. There are two points that can been seen behind the lines, one of those points showing the detail of the town before it was hit by Matthew and the other showing the destruction. The straight, precise lines seen in buildings help to once again illustrate a view of the town before the hurricane. These lines picture the town as being detailed and also the designs seen show the town as being unique. On the other hand, the lines of the rubble covering the ground are curved, rounded, jagged, and everything other than straight. This is connected to unpredictable lines seen in the tree line. As a viewer, these struck me as being similar because all the curved and jagged lines were either found in nature or caused by nature. When viewing and comparing the two different types of lines discussed above, the photographer is assisted in his attempt to show the main purpose.

The colors and shadings found in the picture also alter how the picture is viewed. The bright colors of the remaining building structures hint towards the happiness and peace that could have been found in this Haitian town before the storm. The bright teal, blue, green, and even white colors seen in the photograph are usually associated with happier times and also positive thoughts. In contrast, the piles of rubble and trash however created an opposite effect as they had dull colors. The grey and gloomy sky in the background worked with the dull colors too. These colors created an eerie and sad feel in the picture, which would be closer to how the woman seen would feel. Also, the remaining standing structures are the only things visualized, other than the woman that show the town standing strong. However, the different shades of dull colors seemed to work together to show the main point of the image. The rocks appeared as shades of tan and brow was the water appeared as a murky and dirty brown color. The stains seen on the bright, nicely colored buildings contributed to the images’ main point. The stains helped push the idea of destruction of a town and the power of the storm by giving it a dirty and unmaintained look. Another possible way to view the different shade and colors seen in the image could possibly be linked to the different consequences the storm had on this town and country. The bright colors in the image were taken advantage of by the photographer; some readers may believe they demonstrate the fight to overcome the effects of the storm. This could be true due to the fact that all the structures that were knocked over happen to be the objects with dull colors. When thought of in these senses, the colors and shades helped the photographer display the main purpose of the picture.

When viewing this image, it seems to have coherence in it. The coherence is throughout the entire image because consistent observations were made on all parts of the photograph. These consistent observations were ones such as the lines, colors, and shading. Straight lines related to close detail of the town before the storm and the rigged lines related to nature and its consequences that were felt by the storm. The bright colors illustrated the happiness that could have been found in the town before the storm while the dull colors showed the aftermath. Lastly, the shading of darker colors and the different shades of the dull colors gave the place pictured a dirty appearance. While the image did picture two important thoughts, it still demonstrated coherence as the features observed by the viewer remained consistent with one of the thoughts. These thoughts were used together in order to show the main idea and purpose of the picture. For example, the features that were observed and thought were to be linked to a mental image of the town were the bright colors and the sharp and precise lines of the buildings. However, the features seen in the image that worked with the idea of showing the power of Hurricane Matthew and its destruction include the unpredictable lines of the destroyed parts of the town and the tree line along with the dull colors of the rubble and the shading observed in stains on the bright colored buildings. The ideas were not mixed around and changed up in the photograph; the features varied but did remain consistent with them as they varied, all representing similar ideas or things in a different way. Another way the coherence in this picture worked for the main purpose is the mood that the viewer assumes the woman has compared with the mood of the viewer themselves and even the apparent gloomy weather conditions. The woman appears very sad and shaken up in this situation, which correlates with the viewers’ feelings for the woman and the rest of the people affected by this event. This sad feeling was also added to by the gloominess of the weather. In these thoughts, the image also had coherence. Therefore, the coherence in this image from The New York Times helped the viewer better and more easily understand the purpose behind this picture.

The two important thoughts found in the photograph strongly contrasted each other.  This feature found in the artwork had a stronger effect on getting the idea of the image to the viewer than any of the other features. Although these thoughts pulled from combining features in the photo are very different, they work together very well to give the reader an understanding of the image’s purpose. While the happiness and uniqueness of the town before this disaster is shown, the power of the storm is also pictured by looking at the aftermath. The difference in the two contrasting ideas is so large because Hurricane Matthew was such a big deal due to its many effects and the size of these effects. The viewer could decide from thinking about these thoughts and features that this storm was very devastating to the person who experienced it, which means recovering from this will be a long and difficult task.

The many different features seen in the image all work together to show its main point and purpose. The lines, if straight and precise showed the site before the storm took its course. And if they were curved and jagged, the lines were related to nature in away, hinting towards the harm it caused during this storm. The color, bright or dull, either hinted towards the happiness and peacefulness of the storm, or the gloomy and sad feeling felt when looking at the remains of the place that people called home. The shading seen in the photo either made the bright, positive colored building remains look worn, or it was just used in the piles of rocks and trash. Next the coherence of the other features kept them easy to understand when looking at the picture. And lastly, the contrast between the two thoughts gathered from the features talked about, allowed the main purpose to be identified. In these ways, the features discussed were made able to relate to the purpose of the picture.  
