Economic crisis eventually plagues even the strongest of civilizations and this affects each social class within that society differently.  Depending on the severity of the crisis, the upper and middle classes can typically withstand the negative effects for a little while.  Unfortunately, the lower class is usually not as resilient.  Lower class populations are normally characterized by limited resources and lower paying jobs.  This makes members of this social class more susceptible to extreme economic conditions and as a result, they must put up with the hardest hits.  This exact situation currently exists in Venezuela as they experience one of the greatest economic downfalls in their history.  The effects of this crisis on the lower class population of Venezuela are perfectly captured by photographer, Christian Veron, as he depicts a protest of lower class individuals arguing against the government’s ignorance in the busy streets of the country’s capital, Caracas.  As the flustered protestors proceed with their arguments, several law enforcement officers standing above the mob observe them.  A number of features within the photograph contribute to the overall meaning of the image.  A few of these features include position, direction, tone, and scale.  More specifically, some of the examples of these features include the positions of the groups of individuals, the direction of the worker and the officers’ gazes, the sense of urgency and worry, and the diversity of protestors pictured.  These features only further demonstrate how rough the current economic status really is on the impoverished people of Venezuela as they attempt to make it through this critical state. 

Before diving into the examples of the overall meaning of the image, some background information about the government and economy of Venezuela is needed in order to fully grasp the impact it has on the lower class.  Venezuela is known as one of the top oil-producing countries in the world and because of this, they built their economy almost entirely on their exports of oil.  Recently, a new United Socialist member has come to power and is responsible for the downfall of the Venezuelan economy.  Through corrupt judgements and decisions, money has quickly become an issue and in an attempt to fix this, the government resulted to printing money which only led to further inflation and even worse economic conditions.  As a consequence of the inflation, the lower class has been unable to pay for even the most basic necessities and has had to deal with waiting in long lines just to receive their daily rations of food (Borger).  There has been a growing restlessness among the lower class population in Venezuela resulting from the corrupt rulers and this tone is perfectly captured within the photograph.  

The mob of angered protestors swarming the streets of Caracas make their way through the city under the supervision of the on looking police officers.  Because the mass of people moving through the streets is going underneath the bridge from which the officers are watching them from, they are significantly lower in position compared to the officers.   Vice versa, the officers are clearly positioned much higher than the group of lower class citizens.  This represents the current status that the lower class population deals with as the government is mostly concerned with themselves than with the impoverished members of their society.  The protesting mob is literally and metaphorically a symbol of the lower class and their struggles within their society as they most likely work harder than most just to scrounge up some money to support themselves.  This struggle is not greatly rewarded because of the poor choices made by the government which includes the printing of more currency (Borger).  The government of Venezuela acts in this way because they think they are doing what is best for themselves, but they do not concern themselves with the effects that the escalating inflation rates has on the lower class.  This is represented by the higher position of the law enforcement officers.  If the officers had been closer to the level of the protestors, this distinction between federal interests and community concerns would not have been as clearly presented. 

Because the officers are positioned so much higher than the mob, they naturally look down on the streets teeming with members of the lower class.  They calmly watch the mob as they angrily march through the city.  Additionally, some of the mob-goers look from their position down on the street up to the officers watching them.  This symbolizes how the members of the government of Venezuela are significantly higher in both wealth and social status than the lower class.  These positions only further reinforce the idea that the government is riding their current high and maybe do not see or just simply do not care about the negative impact of their poor decisions on the lower class population as they go to great lengths just to get a response from their leaders.  

Due to the failure of their government to take any action against the increasing poverty and inflation rates, the most susceptible group of individuals to these issues, the lower class, tends to be a little more upset than the other social classes.  This creates a sense of worry and fear that ripples through the population especially since some families find themselves struggling to get the income necessary to support themselves.  The protestors in the photograph are clearly moved enough by these issues that they choose to actively stand against them.  Some members of the group look up towards the officers standing on the bridge above them.  These individuals, as well as the whole group, are out on the streets because the motive behind their protest stems from the question of what might happen next with their country’s economy.  Coming from the look of panic expressed by the group of protestors, this particular feature, consisting of the individual’s gazes, represents the overall worrisome tone felt by nearly the entire lower class population of Venezuela.  As the country experiences a decline in oil exports, a severely lackluster governing body, and an increasing rate of inflation, members of the lower class search for any source of guidance they can find in order to navigate their way through the entangled mess that is their economy (Borger).  They look towards their country’s government leaders, represented by the law enforcement officers, since they are the only ones who can offer any sort of solution to the problem.  The fearsome glances stand for the panic felt by the impoverished as they wait in long lines for their daily rations wondering if they will earn enough money for their family and themselves so they can make it through the week.  

The struggles fought by the lower class fail at becoming a priority for Venezuela’s government.  Their country’s leaders concern themselves with the bigger picture issues revolving around the other social classes and the declining economy.  Even though their problems are incredibly important, the government would rather deal with what they consider the more pressing issues of their society and what they think is going to contribute the most to the country’s growing economic crisis.  This concept can be represented by the photograph due to the scaling of the individuals pictured.  The angles of the image are from directly behind the police officers which makes them significantly larger in size when compared to the many people in the streets below.  Despite the fact that the policemen are outnumbered, they still take up way more space compared to the rest of the image including the city, the mob, and the bystanders.  Due to the angles from which the photograph was taken, the police officers are prioritized more in this image than the mob of protestors.  The scaling done in this image speaks to the fact that the government of Venezuela, represented by the officers, prioritizes their concerns first over the concerns of the impoverished members of their community.  Their government leaders would rather focus on solutions that would benefit themselves and the higher social classes than the solutions that would help out the lower class.  The officer’s size, in comparison to the protestors, makes them seem more important than to the people who represent the majority of Venezuela’s population, and sadly, for their government leaders, this is true (Borger).

At the first glance of this photograph, it might be difficult to identify its purpose or what the meaning behind the image could be, but once all the features are broken down and analyzed, the significance regarding Venezuela’s economy can be easily identified.  Some of the features that can be analyzed include position, direction, tone, and scale.  Each feature defines all aspects of the meaning behind the photograph which consists of the government leaders prioritizing their issues over that of the impoverished members of their society.  Their government fails to take their concerns into consideration and as a result, the lower class results to openly protesting against their country’s leadership.  This image serves to express the struggles faced by Venezuela’s lower class as they experience one of the worst economic crises in their history.
