Truth and Bias

Photo by: Ed Clark
Image Source: http://www.thegreatleapsideways.com/?p=209 

This photo by Ed Clark is quite interesting. It shows a navy shipman named Graham Jackson following the funeral train of FDR. Graham looks to be quite upset about the loss of FDR, as he plays the accordion. Meanwhile the subjects in the background look very disgusted and/or annoyed with Mr. Jackson. I'm curious as to why, is it a racial thing? Is it the music he is playing? Are they curious as to what an accordion is? The photograph seems to me like if this was a white man these women would not have the same reaction to him, that is just my gut feeling and also is why I feel as if the picture speaks the truth about attitudes during this period of time, and also the emotion some felt over the loss of FDR.

Three photojournalistic principles this photograph uses are first of all the expression of the subject, you can see on his face that he is hurt by the loss of FDR and that is really the essence of the picture. Next, you can see the image is black and white which really gives off the mood and overall vibe of the feelings going on in the photograph and its somber feel. Finally the main subject being about 2/3 of the total image puts him out there and lets the audience know he is the subject of the photograph.

Photo by: Unknown
Image Source: http://www.grantland.com/blog/the-triangle/post/_/id/4477/panic-rules-in-red-sox-nation

This is a photo that truly speaks truth to me. This photo is taken of Red Sox second baseman Dustin Pedroia during September of 2011. Now to any casual sports fan this photo might just look like frustration after a bad at-bat or a strikeout to end the game. However, right when I saw the photograph I knew it was from September 2011 when the Red Sox had an epic collapse during the last month of the season and ended up missing the playoffs. It was a miserable, frustrating time for the team and their fans myself included. The way I know this is because of the emotion shown, I felt this way emotionally about the team, so I can see it in the photo. Like Professor Nordell said it is all about the perspective you are trying to gain from the photograph which is clearly shown here the perspective is that of frustration with the teams play.

A few photojournalistic things to be seen here are first of obviously the expression of the subject, his anger and frustration are clearly met to be the subject of the photograph and the photographer does a nice job showcasing that. The next is that the photo keeps it simple, just Pedroia and his frustration and thats it, because that is the story being told and its really all that needs to be seen. Finally the background compliments are out of focus which is to put the main focus and light on the subject, Pedroia.

Image Source: http://english.irib.ir/voj/component/k2/item/84598-tens-of-thousands-march-in-washington-anti-abortion-rally

  This photo was one that did not speak the truth to me, after watching the content videos and the points of view on the Prop 8 rally, I immediately thought of an experience I had once. I was walking by in Boston and found a group of protesters being separated by police. There were two groups of picketers one pro life and one pro choice. It became violent and chaotic and it was really an ugly scene too watch but one bystanders walking by could not take their eyes off of. This is why this photo doesn't really speak to me about what truly goes on at events like this and also just like the nurses on strike, it doesn't give justice to truly how large their cause is and the passion behind it.

Some Photojournalistic principes here are the use of lines from the barrier that go down across the picture really widen out your view. Also the image is a little bit out of focus in the back but you can tell that for this photographer the material was too important to sacrifice. Finally, the feelings the image creates, cause of the controversial topic I'm sure the feelings the image creates would differ depending on the person, but it definitely causes some strong emotional feelings.