In the summer of 2014, a photographer took a picture of a group of protesters in Ferguson, Missouri. A young black male named Michael Brown was shot down by a white cop, then the news spread around the United States very quickly and it caused chaos in Ferguson and America. Racial tension between white cops and black people grew so much more because of images like this one. The photographer uses extra-diegetic gaze to connect with the viewer to get the viewer to join in and help stop the cops killing the black males. The protesters are staring at the viewer to make the viewer feel guilty for sitting down and doing nothing about what is going on in Ferguson. The author appeals to the audience’s emotion by making the viewer feel guilty, angry and lost by using color, words, and contrast but he gives hope to the viewers in the chaos of racial tension in the world.  

The author uses color to make you feel guilty. The color white stands out because it stands for peace and innocence. The guy wearing a white shirt is carrying a white microphone which symbolizes he is demanding peace and shows Michael Brown is innocent. It makes the viewer feel guilty and sad because the viewer cannot do anything to help Michael Brown. Also the viewer feels guilty for not joining the protest. In the image black colors surrounds the white. The color black stands for fear and death that makes the viewers be afraid because they could be the next victim to a white cop. In Ferguson and the world there is a lot of fear, even when you are innocent. The white and black in this image symbolize the racial tensions between black and whites. Black symbolizes evil and white symbolizes good. In this image their mixed to show good and bad on both sides. What the man in the white is trying to say is we all need to come together to have peace because racial violence is tearing our world apart. The picture makes the viewer feel guilty by looking at them and knowing what is going on but not doing anything about it. The author uses not only black and white, but bright green to make you focus on the words on the poster.

The words on the poster are “Mike White Murdered Mike Brown WE NEED JUSTICE.” When the viewers see these words on the poster it makes them mad, because it makes the viewer think the cop only killed Mike Brown because he is black. The white and brown is underlined in this image so it is important. The author wanted to focus on black and white racial tensions. The word “Murdered” is in red to symbolize blood for all of  the black victims of police brutality. Every time the viewer sees the word “Murder” on the poster it brings a negative emotion. The cop wrongly took someone’s life, someone’s child and someone’s friend. The word “NEED” on the poster is all uppercase, unlined and bolded in the color red. This symbolizes that many victims from police brutality need justices. The blacks feel like they have been waiting for justice for years to fix the racial problems that has been going on since forever. On the poster “NEED” could say want, but the blacks feel like they have been wanting justice for too many years, so now they are demanding change. The poster makes the viewer want be a part of the protest, but it makes the viewer feel guilty if they do not do anything.  The words make the picture have meaning by making the poster stand out and by using contrast.

The photographer blurred the background, made the poster bright and the rest of picture dull.  The background was blurred to show an unclear world with racist problems. The unclearness mean that the viewer won’t understand everything in the world, the viewer will just have to live and learn about this crazy world. When the viewer does not know what’s going on it makes them feel lost in society, so it causes them to panic and have some fear about what is going to happen. The dull colors make the picture sad because it is a sad image. The dull colors make the image of the world bad and scary, even in the hard times in Ferguson this photographer gives a little hope. In this picture there is a bright green poster that adds color to this dull image. The light green poster gives hope that something could change. The hope from the poster may change things. The photo gives the viewer hope even if the viewer fears for society and the black protesters are demanding peace. 

The author’s image is demanding justice and peace for Ferguson and the world. The expressions on the faces of the black men in the image look like they are yelling and forceful. The black men in the image are looking at the viewer and demanding their attention to listen to what they have to say and take action. This makes the viewer do something about the problems. The photo of the black men with a bullhorn represents getting their voices heard by the white people but the poster demands justice for Michael Brown. The poster uses action words to get people to react to what happens in Ferguson. The black men in this image is hoping for justice for all of the killings of black males. The picture demands peace and justice not only in Ferguson but in the world. 

The contrast, color and symbols in the image makes the viewer feel guilty, disgusted, fear and anger. The poster light green color gives hope to the people in Ferguson and the world. The image of the black men demands attention, justice and peace. The author plays with the viewer’s emotion and uses elements to get the audience to feel different feelings. We are going to keep seeing images like this one if we do not put a stop to police brutality.