Recently, the United States is suffering from a severe state issue that a lot of shooting accidents which threatened people’s lives occurred in the country. What was the common feature of these incidents is that the conflicts frequently erupted between policemen and African Americans. In these incidents, some African Americans are killed by policemen with unclear reasons. These finally lead to strong protests for protecting African Americans’ right to life. This essay is to analyze a photograph taken outside Baton Rouge Police headquarters during one of the many protests of the Black Lives Matter movement.

As the picture shows viewers, the main figures in it are an African American woman Ieshia and many well-armed policemen. Two of the cops are trying to control the woman but she still keeps calm without any movement. Most audience have no idea how will the story continue but there is no doubt that the photo makes them feel nervous.

            Contrast is the element most often used in this image to catch the viewers’ attention, as in a comparison between Ieshia and policemen. Since the woman has no any weapon or armor on her, she would be easily considered to be a vulnerable person. In contrast, these policemen who are armed with black armor and pistols unconsciously create an intense atmosphere for this image. They do not like making joke because they are armed with weapons that may harm others. After seeing this image, audience may begin to concern about the personal safety of the woman. Besides that, this visual text displays a strong contrast between two sides. The single person is facing a group of policemen and what she can do to resist seems almost impossible. Conversely, behind the two policemen is a line of well-armed officers. In fact, the number of policemen is limited but the way photographer took to catch the scene makes it seems unlimited. In this picture, the photographer doesn’t show the viewer all of the policemen. Instead, he hides the beginning and the end of the line of officers, making the difference between the number of the two sides even bigger in audience’s eyes. In this way, viewers would feel more sympathy for the woman since she stands alone as an example of people who fight for racial equality although what she faces is a group of armed policemen that may harm her. In general, this image is full of contrast that easily illustrate what is happening.

In addition, another element of this image also deserves to be mentioned. When coming back to the woman, she stands still with her eyes closing, showing viewers a fearless protests figure. To those audiences who are paying attention to the protest movement, it may look uncommon since a lot of pictures or news report about these protest movement often show them violent conflict between policemen and protestors. However, also as a protestor in this image, this woman keeps calm even when two men are trying to arrest her. As for the two policemen, their bodies are crooked since they are careful controlling the woman without causing any conflict. For audience, they would tend to appreciate the brave and calm woman who shows a moderate protestor figure. Also, what the photo wants to tell them is that protest is not always reflected by violence. There are many protestors who are the same as the woman and they all should be respected by public and considered as a role model to other protestors.

When come to the details contained in the simple photograph, the photographer is smart because he covers a lot that make contribution to the whole story. The light in this image is just right. As the light is on the helmets of these policemen, viewers may find it more difficult to see the faces of policemen because in the photographer’s expectation, they should focus more on the face of the woman instead of those men. That is to say, this makes audience disconnected from them. Besides that, when selecting the time for taking this photo, the photographer accurately caught the moment when one of the two policemen just approached and touched the woman’s hand. It’s hard to do so since this moment may just last for one second but it is precious and typical. Notice that there are several bystanders who are standing under a tree in this image. However, the distance between those people and the main characters are so far that viewers cannot t clearly see those men. The placement of bystanders might be a way to illustrate that such a brave protestor always needs help from others instead of just some bystanders.

There is no doubt that the photographer selected a good place for taking this picture. He isn’t too far or close from those main figures. In this way, viewers will feel closer to them just like the protest is happening in front of them. That is how a photographer always want their audience feel: They want their viewers to feel like integrating to the story happens in their works. As viewers find themselves very close to those elements in photo and they can even try to “touch them” , they may more easily understand what photographers want to express.

To sum up, Protestor Ieshia Evans Arrested in Baton Rouge is a picture that has a meaning of protecting and respecting African American’s right as citizen. Also it shows the public a good example of those protestors who are in the Black Lives Matter movement, trying to reduce query from people who know a few about this movement. What’s more, the woman in the photo is expected to become a role model of protestors and make contribution to reduce violent conflict between policemen and some protestors who may lose calm during movement.
