In the image chosen, two photographs are put together to show how they contrast. In the top left, a large, colorful reef in a beautiful blue sea is shown. The other photo in the image shows a mountain of dead plants and coral, and no signs whatsoever of color or life. What is being illustrated in the image is the damage that has been done to the Great Barrier Reef. The Australian sea treasure had a 25-million-year history before it was officially determined to be dead last week. The reef was 1400 miles long, and contained 2900 individual reefs and 1050 islands. The Reef was, in area, larger than the United Kingdom. This treasure of nature also was more biodiverse than all of Europe combined, as the Great Barrier Reef was home to 1625 species of fish, 3000 species of mollusk, 450 species of coral, 220 species of birds, and 30 species of whales and dolphins. Due to the massive levels of inhabitation all throughout its 25-million-year life, The Great Barrier Reef became the most important and complex home to wildlife in any ocean on Earth. Looking at the photo in the top left of the image, one may wonder how such a stunning treasure could be treated so disrespectfully by those that insist on throwing their garbage in the surrounding waters, polluting the air with factories and cars, etc. The Great Barrier Reef was located about 140 miles off the coast of Australia, and extended 140 miles into the ocean, thanks to the dynamic organisms that made up the reef, such as coral and other plants and animals. One may be simply in awe that the home of so many different animals and species could be neglected to such an extent that they all lose their home. After such a long life, the Great Barrier Reef has been declared dead, and humans are to blame. 

While the drastically different settings in each photograph are the main focuses of the image, the design of the overall image must also be analyzed. The first image is the Reef looking beautiful and healthy, and it is located in the top left of the image. It only takes up about a quarter of the frame though, as it is rounded off and met by the second image of the Reef, where all the coral is dying. There is a large piece of coral in the photo that would have no longer been visible due to the first photo’s location, so that piece of coral is overlapping the first photo and can be seen fully. This overlapping is done to show the direct relationship between the two photos in the image, and to make the reader really question how such a nice scene could be replaced by that much death. Something else to notice is that the first picture is not in the shape of a square, but rather a circle that cuts off at the end of the photo. The idea of making the photograph showing a healthy environment into a circle likely has something to do with the Earth being round, and how the Great Barrier Reef could be a microcosm of the Earth as a whole if people around the world do not start recognizing the damage they do to their environments every day. 

Something else to look at in the image is where the first picture is located. It only takes up a small portion of the image, about a quarter of the total frame, and it is located in the top left. Since that image is there, there is no way to truly tell what lays behind it in the second photo without the original snapshot. What can be inferred, based on the coral’s location in what we can see of the second photo, is that only empty sea is being blocked by the first photo, which causes there to basically be no range of sight at all in the second picture, which can create a feeling of claustrophobia almost, and just overall make the reader feel trapped in the area where the dead coral lays. However, the first photo features a huge ocean that looks to extend infinitely. This can cause the reader to feel more free and less confined, which is generally a safer feeling. So because of this, the reader will be more attracted to that image to begin with, and see a greater difference as the two are contrasted. 

While the style used to display the two images tells the reader a good bit, the true meaning is in the two images themselves. The first image shows the Great Barrier Reef in a prime time, as the surrounding water is crystal clear, making the rainbow coral reefs below completely visible. The photograph was shot from a bird’s eye view perspective, so the actual size of the reefs is tough to judge, but the beauty is very clear. The second image shows the death that remains after years of pollution damaging the Reef. There is barely any color in the photo, and no signs of any life. 

A huge factor in the image is the appearance of life in the first photo. In the part of the water that is clear of any reef, there are four figures that look to be boats, probably belonging to scuba divers or snorkelers. The appearance of life in this photo is critical to distinguishing the difference between the two photos: the presence of life in the first photo further proves the former value of the Great Barrier Reef, while the lack thereof in the second picture shows just how inhabitable the reef is by tourists, much less wild life. 

To be truly effective in influencing or explaining, an image must be able to communicate through non-verbal means. In the image of the Great Barrier Reef at two incredibly different periods of time, there are many aspects that help communicate a message through non-verbal methods, such as color, organization, shape, space, and contrast. Of those, the main feature that communicates the clearest message is the contrasting of the two pictures by placing them side by side. The meaning of this image is to show the eventual deterioration that the Great Barrier Reef suffered over time, which is obvious based on the side by side placement of two photos: one illustrating a healthy Reef, and one capturing a portion of the dead Reef. The deeper message must be seen though, and contrast does the best job of making this message clear to the reader: mankind must become for environmentally friendly as a whole, or many of nature’s beautiful treasures will eventually begin to die and crumble away, just like the Reef did. The reason contrast is the most effective of the features mentioned in conveying this message is because it combines other features in a way. The photos in the image cannot just simply “contrast,” as there must be certain features that contrast in between the two pictures. In the photos of the Great Barrier Reef, the photos contrast in color and space, which are two other features one can use to analyze visual texts – basically, the first image of the healthy Reef contains a good amount of color and endless space, while the second image of the dead Reef contains about none of either feature. So, while the main feature “contrast” really just included two other features in “color” and “space,” color and space can be used on their own to analyze the image as well.

Despite the analysis above, the reader is still able to make a counterclaim against that argument, by using the feature “scale.” Scale, in this context, is regarding the fact that the first photo, of the healthy Reef, shows a huge portion of the Reef from a bird’s eye view. Based on the size of the boats in the water, it can be contextually determined that the photo captures a good portion of the Great Barrier Reef. In the second photo, however, an exponentially smaller portion of the Reef is shown. The argument that can be made here is that the image is not an accurate representation of the Reef, for not enough dead Reef is shown. A reason that this argument even arises in the first place is that the first photo is taken from a bird’s eye view in the sky, and the second photo was snapped under water. Photographing the dead Reef from an underwater view is somewhat questionable, as the water will not be nearly clear enough to see a large range of what is trying to be displayed. To debunk this hypothetical argument, the image may be better off using an aerial shot of the dead Reef instead.

Based on the two photos provided, the reader cannot prove that the visual text features two snapshots of the same area of the Great Barrier Reef. What can be determined though, is that, in the first picture, an incredible sight is being displayed, and the photograph set up next to (and on top of) it completely destroys any thoughts that the Great Barrier could still look beautiful again, much less support aquatic animals, plants, and other formerly prevalent life forms. 
