Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia camps in Colombia are basic military bases in the jungle that are run by rebellious civilians. They are mostly conducted by women, children, and men that flee from their homes and oppose the government.  In the picture above it shows how organized and disciplined this militia is.  These rebel men and women who live in the rainforest are fighting for their beliefs for communism in Columbia.  Many of these soldiers, who used to be civilians, are overwhelmed and easily frightened by this experience.  They have possibly been separated from their families and brought into a completely different environment and given commands. This picture illustrates the terror of war, how it effects people on the inside, even though they might not show it on the outside.  It also exhibits how serious these Colombian militias are, it proves how patriotic they are and how much they would do for their country.  It unites them as one, and shows the struggles that you go through trying to go against a more abundant dominant power.  The purpose of this photo is to demonstrate the unity of the Colombian militia. The fear and emotion that depicted in this picture are a representation of how much the ex-civilian soldiers must sacrifice, and the strength of their unity as a people and how they will use that to overcome the Columbian military.  As they stand together they establish a feeling of hope for their belief system. As an effect of this photo the audience becomes frightened by the potential of these Colombian soldiers.  This fear is from the realization that people who are fighting for what they believe in have more moral.  The conclusion brought to perspective by this photograph is that fear and a common belief can be the unifying factor between a group of individuals who need to overcome an obstacle, which is depicted in this picture through elements of color, texture, positioning and the setting.  

The shade of grey that engulfs the entire photograph allows the photographer to set a mood, and make his point that this picture was taken in a time of despair for the soldiers.  Grey and black are colors that symbolize sadness or the possibility that a bad occurrence is in the near future.  The author utilizes these symbols and creates a depressing tone for the story told by the faces of the soldiers.  It designs the scene to become dark and gloomy, like the attitudes of the soldiers.  The dark grey shadows that cover most of the soldier’s eyes communicates their demeanor to be one of forced aggression.  The average person is prepared for battle, especially older men and young children.  Often times in situations like this they are made to go into combat and they are terrified.  It would make sense for them to keep their heads low and put themselves in solitude.  The soldiers depicted in the photo can easily be described as teenage to middle age people.  Three of them don’t look like they are over the age of eighteen.  The purpose for them being included in this photograph with the inclusion of a grey overlay is to allow the audience to relate to the situation.  The audience can relate because it is unlikely that the average person, when they are that young, is willing and able to fight in a field of battle.  The grey engulfs the entire photo which unifies the soldiers as one.  The grey also allows the audience to relate to the uncomfortable feeling that the nervous teenager is feeling moments before they enter battle.  The thought’s that are going through their heads could be of death.  In a situation where you a rebelling against an entire country, death for most is imminent, and the author uses different textures to relate to this tone of gloom.

The different textures used in the photograph attract attention to different details that might not be noticed otherwise.  First, it brings the most attention to the man located in the center of the photograph by using a blur effect to make it harder to visualize certain parts of the photograph.  Probably because his face is easily visible and you can see his facial expressions.  Blurring the faces of most the soldiers makes them unidentifiable.  By doing this it’s almost as if they are hidden, just like they would be hiding in the jungle.  Since the Colombian militia uses guerilla style warfare tactics, camouflage is most important.  As well as camouflage, another use for the blur effect over the faces is it depersonalizes them.  It makes them a general “soldier” instead of a person.  The photographer uses this as an effective way to generalize the rebels in a bad way.  Rebels are discriminated against in times of war by patriotic citizens.  This forces the audience not to focus on certain features of the soldiers face as they would a normal civilian, it focuses mainly on their military uniform and revolves around how they are the enemy.  This is effective because if the photographer were to want to use this as a campaign against the rebels they seem dehumanized.  The contrast between the soldier located in the center of the photo and the rest of the photo draws the most attention.  Much of the photo is out of focus however specifically that one soldier stands out because he has a glossy face that makes him look like he’s been sweating, and looks like he is worn down from the consequences of war.  This allows the photographer to give a glimpse of what the soldiers look like without having to remove the blur effect from the remainder of the picture.  The soldier looks frightened and stressed, this can be inferred from the expression on the soldier’s face.  This look can also be described as the feeling when people get butterflies in their stomach.  This makes the audience relate to the soldiers by adding personal experiences.

The positioning of the soldiers represents their unity.  Being in a formation with equal spacing requires discipline and devotion.  In order to make a group of people organize themselves like this it requires them to be loyal and unified towards a cause and purpose.  The posture of the soldiers and the matching uniforms back up claims made of how organized these militias are. This leads the audience to believe that this rebel militia is very serious and has a chance to defeat the government of Columbia.  The photographer uses this to convince the audience that the militia is a dangerous force that stands a chance against the forces of the Colombian military.  The angle that the photographer uses gives a first person view of what it would look like to walk through a line of rebel soldiers.  First person angles are the most effective because if put into focus the audience can get the perspective as if they were present at the event.  This is so effective because realistically war is a serious situation but normal photographs might not be able to communicate this.  A first-person view positioned this close creates ethos for certain claims that the Colombian militia might make.  Most rebel armies are not taken very seriously by certain military forces around the world.  This being the case in able to become a force worth recognizing and become an actual threat towards the government you must be organized and have soldiers that are prepared to put their life on the line for the beliefs of their specific entity.  This requires unity, which is presented by this Colombian rebel militia in the picture.  This becomes the purpose of the photograph, to show that this militia is a potential threat. By using different positions the author communicates this purpose of unity to the audience, while allowing the backdrop to provide other explanations.

The backdrop or setting of this photo brings attention to the time of day and the setting in which this photo was taken.  What can be drawn from this is that the rebel militia has the potential option to attack at night.  Colombian rebels use of guerilla fighting tactics revolves completely around their surroundings and their familiarity with the land.  Since they are a indigenous force they would be fighting on the land that they have lived on their whole life, which is almost ideal.  Becoming very familiar with the layout of the battle ground and utilizing the sun going down to limit visibility is how they use the guerilla fighting technique to its full potential.  Guerilla warfare requires soldiers to move and react as a single unit, a unified force.  The photographer uses the timing of the day to warn the Colombian government that this militia is prepared to attack at night, and isn’t afraid to utilize anything necessary for victory.  The number of trees seen in the background of this photo shows how hidden and under the radar these FARC camps are.  They are located in the middle of Colombian forests, and they are usually camouflaged very well.  There isn’t a cleared-out portion of land, they are covered by tall trees so that if seen by a plane would draw attention, and is seemingly impossible to encounter by radar.  This can be a large threat to the Colombian military because they have no idea where these FARC camps are located.  This gives the rebels the upper hand in a way because it leaves them the opportunity to attack first, the element of surprise.  This compliments the organization of the militia, and proves them to be a unified force, worth being on high alert for.  These militias are considered a real threat to the military and the government in Colombia, and this photograph tells the story of why. 

The author uses this photo as a source to prove how unified this Columbian militia and how they should be taken seriously.  By using the elements of color, texture, setting, and contrast, they effectively do so.  The purpose behind using several different elements in a photograph is to give multiple meanings that can lead to several different conclusions.  If the audience looks for these specific elements that are embedded in the photograph they can very well come to the same conclusions.  
