Although not known by all Americans, the Tear of Grief (also known as To the Struggle Against World Terrorism) monument, erected in New Jersey, displays a forty foot chrome tear drop that represents the grievance of one country for another. Artist, Zurab Tsereteli constructed this beautiful ten story tall structure as a gift from Russia to America, in remembrance of the lives lost during the 1993 World Trade Center bombing as well as the attacks that occurred on September 11, 2001. The photographer of both pictures uses light reflecting off of the monument itself due to direct sunlight in addition to the placement of distant objects in the background, such as New York city and a mural of Bush and Putin, to stress that in order to defeat a problem as big as world terrorism, we must unite as one collective force. Despite of the radical differences among the USA and Russia in the past half century, the monument shows the reluctant force of human nature exploiting symoathy, proving that we are all the same. 

Tsereteli’s placement of this monument sitting across from the Hudson river, parallel to New York city, holds truth that what happened on those tragic days are in fact literally and metaphorically behind us and should be left in the past. The placement of this specific monument is almost as important as the monument itself, considering that it’s standing in front of a city where nearly 3,000 workers and law enforcement officers lost their lives due to horrendous acts of terrorism. There is no doubt that the photographer picked this precise angle to give the viewer an inception-like reality of what was once a breathtaking view of two beautiful buildings, but now stands bare in remembrance of the love ones that died. The main focus of this picture is in fact the monument itself due to its massive size, demanding and grabbing the attention of the viewer. The photographer uses the light off of the water, on the tear, and on the base of the monument to show and evoke optimism in which, that light will always prevail through the darkest times. The tear, hung in the middle of the monument, has a realistic look due to the sunlight above and looks just as a tear would look glimmering off of a cheek. The photographer grabs the viewer’s eye by making the tear, a chrome metal object, shine and glimmer just as the water behind it enhancing the features of the tear to make it look even more water-like. In addition to the light surrounding the tear itself, the base of the moment also glistens. The eleven sides of the base, compiled with the deceased names from the attacks, has the same bright features as the water and the tear itself, hinting that the deceased people are in a brighter place now. Tsereteli’s use of chrome and metallic like metals to work dependently with the sun shows that through sadness and hardships there is good to be seen in everything. The monument itself is shaped like the two buildings that fell on September 11th but the tear breaking through the middle serves a bigger purpose. Although you see the tear in the middle of the building you can see the light protruding around it. The tear itself represents sadness but is met by the light shining through around it further pointing out that there will always be light even in the darkest times but only with the help of another force. The photographer uses both light on the monument and surrounding objects as well as the distant city New York, to emphasize that the United States of America is not alone. 

The second picture seen is from the opposite perspective but seems to still strongly support and follow the theme as the first picture did, that together we must unite in order to restore world peace with this ongoing battle against world terrorism. The photographer further supports the theme of unity, with the use of light on the monument and on the mural painted on the building in the background. As supported in the first picture the second picture proves to have just as much light as the first. The pastel blue sky in addition the wisping white clouds coexisting with the American flag flying high in the sky effortlessly with the wind, shows nationalism and puts the reader in their true happy place. The same water and the same tear drop with a different amount of lighting makes the picture differ significantly from the first. The light moves from the top the picture in the sky down to the very bottom of water with only one other spot being lit up, being the tear drop. No matter from what direction one looks, the tear will always glisten, whether in sunlight or moonlight the tear characterizes itself as an actual tear due to its reflection. The light in the picture above rests over the clouds bringing the emphasis to the mural instead of the monument itself. The focus of this picture is not the monument but the words on the mural, “To The Struggle Against World Terrorism”, (hence the name of the monument). The artist of this mural positions Putin on the far left and Bush on the far right staring eye to eye at this simple but meaningful six letter phrase. Although there are many differences between these two countries, the mural stands to make the point that in order to fight this battle and to stop “struggling” to fight it, we must ban together and unite as one. The mural itself serves no purpose just being the mural itself and the words serve no purpose just being words but the combination of the words and the mural together with both country’s leaders, supports the theme of uniting together no matter what the differences are. 

In order to analyze a picture one needs to step back and look at all of the components that make the picture what it is. Differing from a written text, one cannot use evidence to support their thesis but must use a visual concept found by themselves to make sense of something that before no one else had ever seen. Tsereteli’s monument stands tall not only for the deceased loved ones but for the fight against the perpetrators that are bringing evil to this beautiful world we live in. The tear itself proves to have a negative connotation but the sunlight shining through prevailing gives the tear an optimistic look of hope and justice. The photographer in both pictures uses distant objects, such as New York and the mural, as well as differing sun light on the monument to emphasize and show that although there may be bad in the world, and although we may grieve, we must unite together as one collective force to bring an end to this hatred act of world terrorism. With the help and support of other countries, together we can take down world terrorism if and only if we unite.
