When walking the streets of a big city, such as Chicago or Los Angeles, you might happen to see some of the wealthiest and most successful people in the world. At the same time, you will also see some of the poorest and most helpless people in the world. One person can afford to take a private jet to the Bahamas for the weekend, and the other can not afford to eat breakfast in the morning. It is a strange idea that such a contrast of wealth can be so prevalent and so obvious in our world today, that these two different types of people walk next to each other daily, right under our nose. This photo is the epitome of America’s ignorance and neglect towards those people living on the streets and living in poverty. The media negatively portrays the poor as inconveniences to the rest of the public. Those people living in poverty are rarely shown in a positive manner on the news, rarely offered opportunities to better themselves. Poor people do not get cast in a positive light in the media or anywhere in society, they are only seen as a nuisance and a bother to other people. This picture perfectly illustrates the obliviousness and neglect of Americans today regarding the increasingly problematic wealth gap. 

This first thing that jumps into my mind when looking at this picture is the distinct contrast of color from the ladies on the right and the homeless man sitting on the steps on the left. The ladies are dressed in bright, extravagant clothing. Color has throughout time resembled wealth and superiority. Kings would wear the most luxurious and flamboyant colors to show the people who was the richest and who was the king. Bright color historically has meant royalty and power. The colors of the luxurious wardrobe of the females catch my eye first. The flowery patterns that they wear symbolize life and birth and happiness. These joyous emotions and events do not, however, characterize the entirety of the photograph. The man on the steps does not wear bright colors or extravagant, lively patterns. His side of the picture is dull and lifeless. Symbols for life and lifelessness are side by side in this photograph. This contrast of color in the photo resembles the contrast of wealth in America, and how oblivious this issue is to many Americans. 

Lighting is a way to show who is the person of importance or the person of power is. The natural light in the background of this photo puts all the attention and focus on the ladies, as they are posing for their picture. The sunlight and the glare from the building and the cars nearby create a perfect beam for the ladies as the photographer takes their picture. The homeless man, on the other hand, sits on the steps in the darker side of the photo. He is all beat up, covered in dirt, and in dull colored, worn out clothes. There are no streetlights, no glare, no sunlight at all on the man on the steps in the picture. He has none of the attention that the light brings, just like how the homeless people we have in today’s society are overlooked and not taken care of properly. The carefree attitude regarding the inequality of wealth is terrifying, especially when people who possess tremendous wealth just walk by the homeless and do not even stop to think about how they could make a difference. 

These two completely different life styles are literally two feet apart from each other, yet no one is concerned. What makes this picture so intriguing is that the ladies and the man on the steps are so close, yet they don’t look at each other directly, almost as if they are avoiding each other. It looks as if the ladies can not see the man because of the railing, however I think that the man is avoiding the ladies because he is embarrassed of his economic standing compared to the ladies. Society has taught the man on the steps that he is not worthy to talk to them, to even look at those of much higher economic status then he is. A person of poverty living on the streets should never talk to the people of wealth that are in the front of the photo. Society subconsciously teaches Americans viewers daily that this is the way that we should act as a country. However, the man and the ladies are so close to each other, almost as if they could reach out their hands and touch each other. This lack of spacing or the closeness of these two completely different types of people is ironic because it shows that we are aware of what is happening regarding the wealth gap in our society, however we choose to sweep it under the rug. 

The ladies in the focal point of the picture are young and attractive women, and the people in the background, or out of the spotlight, are the older adults in the background, or even the poor man sitting on the steps. This strategy of the photographer illustrates that American society values the younger, more attractive population than its other population of Americans. This younger population gets all the spotlight, all the publicity in the magazines and on TV. The media and America as a whole almost ignores the other Americans generally, especially those of poverty. The people in the background however, symbolize the American middle class. They aren’t in the focal point of the picture or don’t get a lot of the attention, such as the rich young women or the poor old man on the step, however they are there and it is hard to look at this picture without noticing them. Society tends to solely focus on the extremely successful people, however rarely on the American middle class, even though the middle class is the backbone of the American economy and the country as a whole. The people in the background aren’t wearing anything extravagant to make them stand out, however they aren’t wearing anything old or beat up to make them stand out as poor. This photo perfectly shows the level of attention given to each class of Americans in society today. The upper class, front and center with the brightest clothes, right in the middle taking the picture. The middle class, in the background, wearing nice clothes, nothing bright nor extravagant, however nothing raggedy. They are not the focus of the picture, however they certainly are a very important part of the picture. And then the poor, a very prominent part of the picture, however in the bottom of the photo with no lighting. The poor person is in the dark, not even standing up, to show that he is weaker and lesser. These three classes of Americans mingle daily, however the gap between them is unnoticed and not cared for.    

There are many reasons as to why the inequality of wealth should trouble Americans today. Wealth inequality gives those at the top of the ladder a sense of power and control over the lives of other Americans. The share of household wealth owned by the top .1% has increased up to 22%. The top .1% has a say tremendous say in the lives of people in poverty in our country. They are the ones deciding where these homeless people can work and what they can eat and so on. The top .1% of people are the people in power, the people who make the decisions regarding our nation, therefore their opinions and beliefs can somewhat control the lives of the homeless and poor, as they are helpless and have no say in their own lives. This photo makes the wealth gap prominent and obvious to everyone who glances upon it. 

Unfortunately, America is quite negligent to our poor and sometimes even our middle class, the rock of the American economy. The way color and light and spacing are used in this photo make that evident. The bright color or lack of color clearly illustrates to the viewer who is of what social and economic standing. This picture tells the story of what the American economy is today, and how the different economic classes and categorization of peoples are portrayed to the rest of the public through the media. The media, knowingly or unknowingly, paints an unfair and predisposed picture to American viewers that this is how we should view society, this is how people should be treated. This is not true and should not be the case at all. The people living in poverty deserve to be treated better. Their unfortunate circumstances have left them on their own and the do not deserve to be neglected and disrespected by the media and by too many Americans across the country. There will always be poor people, that will never change, however, what needs to change is the way we view poor people and the way we treat and portray these people living in poverty to the rest of our country.  
