On July, 10th 2016 protestors flocked to the street to stand for what they believe in after the death of Philando Castile and Alton Sterling. A breath-taking photo was captured by Johnathan Bachman during one of these protests in Baton Rouge. Many viewers of this photo at a first glance will see a young women standing up to the police but if you look a little bit deeper the picture may change perspective. Bachman captured this photo at the exact right time so that the viewer could take a stance on the picture according to his or her political or social beliefs. Johnathan Bachman uses contrast, repetition, and proximity to push the viewer to take a stance on the photo based on their own bias. 

Contrast is an element of art that is used in almost everything that you see today. It is widely used as a way to point the audience towards what is important. The contrast from dark to light is used in this picture to highlight the three main characters. Obviously these are Ieshia Evens, and the two police officers that are approaching her. The contrast in this photo makes it easy to see the actions and body language of these characters. The first thing the viewer may notice from this photo is the actions of the three figures. Ieshia is standing still while the two police officers are running towards her. This is where bias comes into play. If the audience has taken the stance that the police are trying to harm the woman they might understand their actions as aggressive, but if the viewer takes the stance that the police are trying to save the women from danger they will see this as a caring action. Next, the audience may see the body language that is highlighted by the contrast of the photo. You can see that all three members of the photo have outstretched arms. The body language can be skewed towards the viewers bias of the social issues going on in this photo. This bias can be shown through the arms of the characters involved. The outstretched arms of the police might be a sign of harm or help depending on the viewpoint of the viewer. 

Repetition is used in art all the time to display many different themes. In this photo repetition is shown through the police officers lined up in the background. Many times this element is used to display intimidation or hopelessness but it can also be used to show hope and safety. Depending on your social viewpoint this element of repetition can be shown either way. Looking at the first three characters highlighted by the contrast of the photo, shown in paragraph one, the viewer has already taken a stance on the photo based on his or her political and social views. Now, going with that same stance that the audience has already taken the repetition in this photo will reinforce that theory. If the audience has taken the side that the police are trying to harm the women than the large dark line of seemingly endless police officers will evoke fear and helplessness. On the other hand, if the viewer has taken the other side then the never ending line of police officers will provide a warming feeling of safety. 

Proximity is the last major element of this photo in play. Many times the element of proximity is used to show a bias of the photo through the eyes of the photographer. The portion of the photo that is closer to the audience is the bias that the photographer wants the viewer to lean towards. The viewer can see that the two main police officers and Ieshia Evens are shot at an equal distance from the audience. This is done intentionally so that the photographer didn’t push any of his own bias on to the viewer’s interpretation of the photo. If you can imagine this moment captured from another perspective the whole theme of the photo may be skewed towards one bias or another. If Ieshia was shot closer to the audience, then feelings that the police are trying to harm her would arise, but if the photo was shot with the police closer to the audience then it would evoke feelings of safety from the police. 

Bachman used the visual elements of contrast, repetition, and proximity perfectly in this photo to allow the audience to take a stand according to their own political and social beliefs. The image was shot intentionally so that no bias was shown through the photographer. At the first glance of the photo all the elements jump out at once so the audience makes a split decision on the stance they are going to take but if the viewer dissects the elements one by one that split decision that was made at the first glance is quickly steered towards the bias and views of the audience. 