Different photographers, or artists, all have different styles and ways of capturing an image that make them unique such as their style, tone, and shot choice. “Parkour in a Warzone” are a group of photographs that are exactly as the title says, parkour in a warzone. The definition of parkour is the activity or sport of moving rapidly through an area, typically in an urban environment, negotiating obstacles by running, jumping, and climbing (dictionary.com). “Gaza Parkour” is a sports team in Gaza City, Palestine, which includes eighteen official members. All of the photographs of this sport taken were extremely interesting but one in particular caught my eye. Mohammed Salem’s photograph is able to capture the ideas of war and destruction and their devastating effects in his photograph through facial expression, colors, and movement. Although it shows the devastation, Salem’s unique style of photography also is able to do an extremely good job of showing the possible light at the end of the tunnel during such a terrible time through his use of a focal point.

In this photograph, my first reaction was that this little boy’s front flip looks so effortless and fun. Being able to do a front flip off of a wall is a talent that not everyone obtains. I then examined the image further and noticed something about the boy’s facial expression. He looks as if he is in pain, and possibly screaming since his mouth is wide open. This realization made me recant my first observation of the photograph. This little boy might have done this flip for his first time and witnessed first-hand the feeling of “flying through the air”. Although a flip this rigorous would usually not be done by a first timer, it seems as if he could have just tried it out to see if it could be done. Young kids are prone to just trying things out and usually being able to succeed in mostly whatever they try. This first time experience might have scared him and caused his facial expression to be this way. This young boy’s facial expression is also a representation of what is going on in the background of this image. By the look on the young boy’s face, it can be assumed that the disaster was done by a horrible war that continues to carry on. The war left people feeling terrified, devastated, and hopeless. The facial expression of this boy shows signs of these feelings as well. His reaction really ties the overall feeling of this photograph together as a terrible one. His body language of the flip is a bit of fun during a terrible time, but the face shows the underlying reality of the environment. 

Another observation that I made while looking at this photograph was the use of the color red. The color red typically is associated with energy, war, and danger. The little boy in the background of this image is not the focal point; the only thing that makes him stand out is the use of the color red on his what looks like a uniform. If it were not for this use of red, the boy would not be as noticeable and would just blend in with his disastrous background. Red is also depicted through the small amount of fire on the right side of this photograph. Fire is sign of destruction and war as well. These two instances are the only time there is bright colors throughout this whole photograph. The other colors in this photograph are all dark gloomy colors, which sets the tone for people to get an inside look at the very moment Mohammed Salem took this. The color red overall creates an effect of destruction and tough times, something that viewers already know is going on just by taking a look at this photograph. It is very convenient that the only color used is one that does not depict sunny days and happy times, but quite often the exact opposite. When taking a look at this photograph, one might have a feeling of danger when the red pops out to the eye. Nothing good is to happen here.

Although this photograph in its entirety depicts a very sad time in Gaza City, Palestine, the image as a whole could be seen as a positive one. Although there is much negativity going on in the background of this photograph, the boy doing the front flip is the focal point. The movement of this boy could be seen as the positive outlook during a terrible time. Even when things get tough, positivity is always key. This boy represents fun in an extremely bad time. If the boy in the background of this image were to be the focal point, the image would have a much more serious tone to it as he is not a depiction of fun. Even if the boy doing the flip were to just be standing up the positivity would not be radiating as it is in the picture originally. When thinking about backflips, trampolines come to mind. Trampolines are also related to childhood and innocence, which is also a symbol of happiness. Positivity that although things may be bad in Gaza City, there is a hope that one day things will get better.

Visual images hold a lot more meaning than what is seen on the surface. Most of the time, artists or photographers do every little thing on purpose to instill meaning on their work. In this case, Mohammed Salem used facial expression, colors, and movement to emphasize on the warlike atmosphere of the image. The colors also represent the destruction that is all around. Lastly, movement of the boy is a sign of positivity that things will get better for Gaza City in the future. Positivity is always key even in such a horrific time. It is crazy how little details in a visual text can show so much about what the author was trying to get across to viewers.  The Gaza Parkour sports team’s photos were a little bit of positivity in a mess of a city. The elements that Mohammed Salem captured in his photo show so much meaning. The use of the little boy and the movement of the backflip that he is doing, makes viewers contradict their whole aspect of what the main idea of what the image is about. One can look at it as extremely negative, bad times, or you can focus on the positive that is to come.
