The image conveyed in Tim Dickinson’s photo essay “Ferguson, Uncensored” is one that takes the reader on a visual path that highlights the intense tension between the police/national guard and the minority population of Ferguson, Missouri. The recurring motif of camera angles gives the viewer a perspective that places them in the image where they can experience the racial tension of Ferguson first-hand, and it also challenges any pre-dispositions held by non-minority viewers. Every small touch implemented by the photographer delivers value to the realizations that Dickinson wants the reader to understand and encounter.

The photographer first introduces the reader to a long-shot camera technique to show a presumably unarmed African American photographer in the foreground with his back facing a POV shot of another camera, while the man looks on towards a unit of masked national guard members armed with non-lethal riot control weapons in the background. This film technique helps capture both the frightened viewpoint of the defenseless man with his hands up signaling that he is not a source of danger to the armed men, and the perspective of the National Guard who are in a war-like territory trying to diffuse a hostile situation that the community has labeled blame towards the police for instigating. The posture of the National guard unit implies that the soldiers are following military protocol in that they must be ready for any violent ambush situation that might occur. However, the setting of the image conflicts with the public’s view of unnecessary military interaction in an urban setting filled with unarmed protesters.

 The next place that the readers visual path is directed to is towards the right edge of the frame where a United States Postal Services mailbox reads “Fuck The Police” in graffiti. By accentuating this symbol of racial tension in the image, Dickinson is trying to portray the alliance shared by the community of Ferguson, and that this body of people has a voice even though they are not directly presented in the frame. This addition to the image furthermore thickens the dividing line between the Black Lives Matter supporters and the police who are “supposed” to be protecting all citizens, including the unarmed minorities that have been falling victim to police homicide. When panning back over the frame the frame consisting of the long shot mixed with the POV-type angle places the reader in the open section of the foreground, which makes the viewer feel like they themselves are targets of the aimed weapons. Being placed in this part of the frame draws out a discomfort in the viewer. No one wants to be the target of such a heavy degree of firepower, but this fear created in this frame is inescapable and wherever the viewer looks to try and escape this viewpoint, they are only met with the community’s agitation toward the racial injustice at hand. Between the intense munitions of National Guard and the communities oppressed voice shown in the image, the reader is placed in a warlike environment which breaks every notion help by the third parties examining these unfathomable events in what are supposed to be peaceful urban settings.

The camera angles of long-shot and POV/over-the-shoulder shot selected in the image Dickinson uses help to highlight the tension between police and minorities, but he also uses them to try and sway viewers/readers into aligning their beliefs to the perspective that he wants to show his target audience. When considering the texts narrative and composition Dickinson very clearly uses his voice to defend the protesters, and the viewer can tell that his moral compass stands with the unarmed minority man in the image. This is evident in the fact that Dickinson chose an image were a member of the minority community appears to be in danger, instead of using an image of police and national guard outnumbered in hostile riotous territory. Therefore, Dickinson uses the man as a symbol of a race that is the victim in the oppressive cycle and by using the POV shot in the frame, the viewers have the chance to identify as a victim as well. 

The motif of the camera angles used by Dickinson does challenge preconceptions that non-minority viewers more than likely held before the reading. This is evident because the media only showed tapes of looting and violence but they did not cover any footage of police units scoping down unarmed minorities like the images Dickinson’s sources captured. This motif is implemented to show his readers that the people of Ferguson were only exercising their righteous grievances when they were met with an overwhelmingly harsh police response. When analyzing the name of the passage (“Ferguson, Uncensored”) with regards to the motif used in the image the viewer can comprehend how they work hand in hand. Dickinson is introducing the reader to the uncensored fear of weapons being pointed at the unarmed viewer, and he uses this image to challenge the one-sided spectrum that the media covered over the course of the incident. The police made an effort to limit the media coverage in Ferguson in order to show the general public a one-sided censored news story. These actions outraged the minority population and Dickinson is finally portraying a more accurate synopsis of the occurrences throughout “Ferguson, Uncensored”. 

This motif goes far beyond the physical aspects of the text and places the reader in the foreground of the shot. The image unexpectedly transforms the normally quiet and peaceful suburb of St. Louis into a shocking war zone. And the most powerful part of the picture is the dividing line being drawn between the foreground and middle-ground is being breached y heavily armed national guard members that are supposed to “serve and protect” the people, not aim to gun down. Dickinson captures such a viewpoint by showing the full bodies of both parties. The person viewing the photo is placed on their heels, almost as if they should retreat from the frame before they are met with brutal force. The motif used in this picture helps prove that when images implement certain camera angles they can provide the viewer with a greater emotional connection that provides more truth and meaning than most other forms of media. The emotion felt in this specific image links the viewer to the oppressed population of Ferguson and the racial tension shared between them and the police in a true and untampered form unlike the spin that the mainstream media formats played on the situation. 