In Ferguson Uncensored the pictures show us what actually occurs in Ferguson.  The picture of the mom holding the child in front of the police show the photographers use of medium shot, color, and different tactics to show how Ferguson is unfolding. Overall the picture shows us how the different visual techniques effect our understanding of how the police are mistreating the citizens here.  The picture of the mom and her child is used to show juxtaposition and how it goes against the norm of what we expect to see, for example African American officers and Caucasian victims 

When we first notice the image of the woman the first motif that jumps out of the picture is FTP, written on her chest (FTP- Fuck the Police).  FTP brings the reader to believe that she hates the police and everything about them.  This is breaking the stereotype that we see in Ferguson right now.  Instead of the FTP being written on an African American man and him being shamed and criticized for writing that on his chest, this woman brings about a feel of sadness.  The feeling of sadness is brought upon to her, because a she is mother with a child and has been turned away by the police officers.  This is a complete different feeling that people usually have when they see images similar to this about Ferguson.  If this image were to be an African American with FTP on his chest, the public would be outraged and call him a criminal, but since this is a woman, everyone is quiet and no one will talk about this image.  All of this attributes to the “role reversal” and juxtaposition of the image. 

How often do you see children used as propaganda for major racial issues in the U.S.?  The next visual image that you notice in this essay is the little girl that the mom is holding in her arms.  This is different from what you normally see.  This little girl has “NO VIOLENCE” written on her arm.  This image is juxtaposed to signs that we often see held up by protestors in Ferguson.  The little girl with this writing is protesting with her mom whether she knows it or not.  It is evident that anger is not only occurring within African Americans, but also within Whites.  Therefore, we see the juxtaposition as a sign of do anything to survive.  When we think of Ferguson that is how we envision the African Americans having to live.  But now we see that this little girl, with the propaganda written of her arm is having to do anything to stay alive with her mother.  The mother is having to use her baby girl to show her anger with the police because this is not just affecting African Americans it is also affecting whites and flipping the table on where you see images written.  Previously you only thought of “NO VIOLENCE as being written on sign and shirts worn by African Americans, but now you see it written on a girl who has just learned how to read her first book. 

When you look deeper into the photo you notice that there is man behind the lady and her daughter, he is also white and has a water bottle.  The water bottle is same type of the bottle that the little girl had in her hands.  Let’s say he was an African American doing this.  The African American that handed out water bottles would not even be in the picture; they would have removed him from this scene.  This white man handing out water bottles is juxtaposing an African American who would be handing out water bottles in this photo.  If an African American stood in front of a crowd of police officers, it is completely different than when a white man does it. The two images are juxtaposed just for that reason, in Ferguson no one trusts blacks to do anything and if a black man was handing out water bottles in front of a crowd of police officers that would be unimaginable.  

When you look at the gaze on the officers you notice that none of them are looking at the camera. They have a divergent gaze, which shows that are trying to ignore something and not look at it.  This is compared to the face on the woman.  The woman has a very gloomy facial expression, while the officers are very serious and not looking at the camera.  With these two images being complete opposites of each other we see evil and good.  With the gaze of woman being very gloom we see her as good and pure then when we see the gaze of the police officers we notice that they are evil.  Regardless of who acts as what, the gaze that they have in their eyes tells the audience the police are “wicked” and the white woman is “good”

Finally, you notice the African American officer.  He seems to be blended in with the other officers, which is because it was intended for you not to see him.  Then you see the white woman and her child.  Both of these are not stereotypical for Ferguson.  The woman is the complete opposite of what you’d expect.  Usually you think of an African American male and a squad of white police officers.  This image is portraying how every race is involved in every single aspect of this conflict.  What does it do for you to have a black officer with a whole squad of white officers? The black officer represents togetherness between the community.  When we juxtaposed this image it almost made it so that he is darkened out of the picture so that we do not recognize him and know who he is.  This image has been set up so he can only be seen with careful concentration.  The image wants you to focus on the woman and how see has many tattoos and looks like a criminal, and not even pay attention to the fact that in this photo there is an African American who is fighting for the police force.  Sadly, though you never hear about the African American man in the Police Force all you hear about is the African American who are fighting the police officers.  This image has juxtaposed the African American officer who is doing his job and the African American who is fighting on the streets and who is the only type of African American you hear about in the news.  

In conclusion, the photographer uses a variety of tactics to show that this image is unique in its composition.  By using the FTP, little girl’s arm, other man in the picture, gaze, and African American Officer we see how they all show reversed roles and how changing one small detail such as race color can affect how the audience will view the image.  If any part of this image would have been the opposite of what it is, it would have had a completely different meaning.  What if Ferguson had been all African American officers and all white victims? How would people now view it? 
