Photograph Analysis - Essay Sample

Introduction

A photograph is also known as a photo and is an image that is created when light falls on a surface that is photosensitive usually an electronic image sensor like the CMOS or CCD chip or a photographic film. Most of the photos are usually created by use of a camera that uses a lens to focus on the visible wavelengths of light of the scene in order to produce what a human eye can see. The whole practice and process of creating photographs are known as photography. Photography is important as it helps capture important events for reference in the future in that the photos help refresh the memories of people of the past events that occurred. The common sayings state that pictures usually speak a million words. This paper tries to analyze and explain a picture taken during Emmett Till's burial by David Jackson on August 1955.

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Analysis of this image will take three dimensions, the description part, the reflection, and the formal analysis.

Description

On this first step, the image is described by looking closely at the image and trying to absorb every detail in the image. Here what occurs is only the description of what can be seen without drawing any conclusions on the meaning of the image.

On the image I can see three people, two are standing while one is lying on the high surface. The picture is taken inside a room. There is a door behind the two standing individuals. On the right part of the picture, there is a bottle that rests on a sink, there is a rosary hanging on the wall and also a photo frame on the right top side on the wall. On the left side of the photo, there is a hospital bed that has something on top of it which is covered with a white sheet. There are other two movable hospital beds beside the wall. There is a white timber lining frame that covers the walls diving them into two, the top side and the bottom side. On the door, there is a rectangular white frame lining.

The man standing is wearing a grey hat, a blazer with a pen on the breast pocket and on his left hand, he is holding a pair of spectacles. He is black of color, wears a t-shirt and his arms hold a black color lady who wears a watch on her left hand and a black blouse with white decorations on it also it has large buttons. On her waist, she wears a black belt and the fingers of her both arms are closed to each other tightly. The lady has beautiful black hair and her eyes face the person lying on the high surface. She holds something white in her enclosed fingers. The man holding her faces directly to the camera. The person lying on the high surface wears a black blazer and a white shirt. He faces directly up on the roof of the room. The angle of the camera is high as the image of the person lying on the high surfaces is magnified.

Reflection

Reflection focuses on the interpretations and emotions that the viewer of the image evokes from it. Since different viewers of an image will react differently, hence my reactions on this image may not be the same as any other person's reaction on the same image. The image above resonates a strong emotion, it shows grief, pain, anger, and sorrow. The face of the lady is sad and in mourning mood, this is clear since she seems to be in pain of losing a loved one, her son Emmett Till. The man seems to be sad too but tries to remain strong and he does so by not looking directly at Emmett Till's body but faces the camera instead. The two seems to have loved Emmett very much and that is why they mourn for him. They are strong and brave since they were there standing beside the body of Emmett despite the fact that his face was destroyed beyond recognition and disturbing to view.

Formal Analysis

This part shows the elements that are most represented in the image. In the above picture, hospital beds and something covered in white sheets is mostly represented to indicate that the place of the picture is a mortuary and the person lying on the high surface seems to be a dead body. Also, on the left part of the image, the thing covered with which on a hospital bed seems to be a dead body too. The two individuals, a man, and a lady seem to be close people to the deceased man lying on the high surface, Emmett Till. The faces of all the individuals are represented to show that one is dead and the other two are in mourning hence this was a period of grief and pain for Emmett Till's family. The act of the man holding Emmett Till's mother shows that she was in a situation that required a lot of comfort despite the fact that her son was no more, she needed someone to comfort and encourage her to keep on the move and stay strong to overcome and come in terms with everything that had happened.