
In this photograph many Americans choose to protest the 2016 election results. This is an image that can express a thousand different emotions. People with all kinds of different ethnicities and backgrounds have come together to reject Donald J Trump as their president. I argue that this photograph produces an emotion an every American that sees it. Depending on social stance and political party, those emotions can range from sadness and disgust to anger and annoyance. None of the emotions provoked by this photo are right or wrong, but simply an opinion by a member of the viewing population.

One can immediately determine the time period of the photo through the signs that reflect the 2016 election. The man in the middle with a beard is standing with a “not my president sign,” and within the sign is a picture of Donald Trump. This protester refuses to accept the reality that Donald Trump is the president elect. There is a sadness on his face that publicly displays his disapproval of America’ decision. He is also wearing a blue hat, which happens to be color of the Democratic Party.  The sign directly to the right of the man’s sign is also against president elect, Donald Trump. Although this man is dressed a little differently. He has on a black jacket with pins on the sides, as well as a creepy mask. His sigh reads “fight racism” with a picture of Donald Trump also in the middle. This sign happens to be very popular one throughout the picture.

People of different ethnicities are all throughout this image. They have come together despite their differences to attack racism, and a president elect they believe to be a racist. Their stop racism signs have a yellow “x” covering Donald’s mouth. This is a symbolic way to tell him to stop saying discriminating remarks. At the top of the sign it reads “socialist alternative”. There are six of these signs in this one image of a much larger protest. The sign is being carried by men and women of different races. Skillfully, the photographer was able to capture people from all over coming together to fight hate. Behind the “not my president” sign is a rainbow flag. The rainbow flag is the pride flag, and it represents people from the LGBTQ community. Donald Trump’s ignorance and bigotry has even offended the LGBTQ community enough that they are also protesting him. 

Although by definition this is a protest, it is not an ordinary one. The people in the crowd are all distraught for the most part. They have a look of sorrow, as if they have been betrayed. Normally American protest consist of an American flag. The American Flag is absent in this photograph of the protest, as if they are ashamed and embarrassed to be Americans. The red hair girl next to the “not my president” sign looks especially distraught. She went from potentially having the first female president of the United States, to the first proud sexual offender being the president of the United States. She and every other girl in the world must wait four more years to see if a female will be able to reach the oval office. This photograph has consisted of people against racism, people for LGBTQ, and people for women’s rights against trump. 

The sign on the far left reads “Build the resistance against Trump.” It may be a reference to Donald Trump’s phrase “Build that wall.” Which his supporters chanted in effort to get a wall built to separate America and Mexico. They believed it would stop illegal Mexicans from getting across the border. Because the sign also says “black lives matter,” one knows the protester is against police brutality, and is also a part of the popular black lives matter movement. The sign also advocates for women’s and worker’s rights. Many of the people against Donald Trump believe that he has encouraged sexual harassment towards females. He has also bragged about being famous enough to inappropriately touch women without their consent. Through holding her sign during the protest, this girl believes she is defending women’s rights. 

This photograph is able to eloquently capture an entire population of people who are willing to stand up for what they believe. It is also unsettling to notice how many people are at the protest. The entire photograph is filled with protestors, and the protestors are clumped extremely close together. This means the streets are filled with people to the point where personal space no longer exist. A passionate dislike of Donald Trump has allowed the people in the photograph to ignore their crowdedness and protest the election. The camera is focused on the “not my president” sign, making it the center point of the photograph. We as observers are able to understand the photographers view point and motivation behind the photo, through their use of photographic techniques. They are trying to emphasize that Donald trump is not their president. This is a photo that could be added to an arsenal of propaganda against Donald Trump. They are also trying to capture the peacefulness of the protest, and capture the protestors holding non vulgar signs.

Although the picture is able to bring stir up all different types of emotions, it is also trying to encourage and promote peaceful protest. The photographer is also trying to illustration fear and sadness through the expressions that were captured. This photo also has more credibility, because the people within the photo are unaware of the fact that they are being photographed. When one look at the picture as a whole, they can see the true beauty of a nation peacefully coming together to protest.
