Ferguson, Missouri, A Community in Disrepair.

On November 24th in Ferguson Missouri, an unarmed black teenager name Michael Brown was shot and killed by a white Police officer name Darren Wilson. This event sparked incredible unrest in the town and thanks to large media focus, a broad part of our world. There are a lot of differing testimonies and it is unclear what the exact story is, however it is very clear that this event, as well as the decision not to indict Officer Darren Wilson, affect everyone in the community of Ferguson Missouri and people in our nation and many others. This unrest in Ferguson shows how a cultural issue can affect an entire community, causing aggression, splitting sides, and the attempt to contain a situation. These protests and the unrest seen in Ferguson has been captured by countless camera’s, ranging from network TV shows to small town news coverage to simple cell phone camera’s producing some very powerful images.

There's a few elements to consider, the shared gestured made by all the subjects, the masks worn, the levels at which the people stand. The shared gesture is an expression of unity, the subjects are expressed as a team, or as a unit sharing goals or ideals. Additionally, all of the subjects of the image are all on the same plane, no single person appears to stand out as the main focus, and focus is shared amongst all of the people in the photo, emphasizing the idea of unity caused by a shared belief or ideal of all the subjects in this case, the injustice they feel from the Michael Brown case. The final aspect of this photo that is prevalent are the masks worn by many of the subjects in focus. These aren't masks but they appear to be t-shirts wrapped around there faces as a means of protection, this is particularly show by the man in the pink shirt on the far right breathing through his shirt. Perspective is given by the inclusion of these masks, the subjects are given depth, shown to not only be protesting or making a scene, but to be fighting against an opposition to the point at which they need protection. This develops the subjects as fighters and as people willing to stand up for their beliefs, they are strong and resilient people. This presents a negative situation in a semi positive manor, the photo presents no immediate harm and only suggests at violence. The main focus being the unity and strength shown by the protesters as a result of a shared belief in injustice.

As represented in the previous image, protests are generally viewed as a large group of people, who's large number's incite more trouble within the riot. However individuals are equally effected by the issues present. Anger, is shown in this image. We see the silhouette of a man holding up middle fingers to the smoke and what may be behind it. This photo is not only a clear depiction of the anger presented by those who choose to protest and the anger that developed in the community but the effects of the event on the individuals of Ferguson. The main focus of this photo being the man himself, a person angry at the world he lives in. Yet despite him being the  focus of the image, he is silhouetted to accent what’s happening in the background. The background being that of smoke highlighted with the colour of lights in the town resembling the colours of a police siren. The intensity of the lights in the background pulls focus away from the man standing in the foreground. Leaving the silhouetted man to appear as less important to the image as the rest of it. The emotion of this man shown by his body language is pushed aside in this image to draw attention to the background, the police lights and smoke most likely caused by tear gas. The message of the image being the anger and outrage of the individual citizens is forgotten in order to look at the sensationalized issue of the riots and the police. The citizens feel wronged individually, but are instead looked at as a mass of outraged and out of control protesters.

As accented by the police lights in the background of the previous image, police are viewed very negatively in a large assortments of mediums in this situation. They are viewed as the opposition and the "bad guys" throughout the "storyline" of the situation in Ferguson. They are the inspiration and cause to wear masks in the first image and the cause of the aggression in the second photo. However as a part of the community, the police force were affected too. This image gives us a line of police officers, sporting riot gear and standing at the ready. However the faces of these an are not that of soldiers or that of people in preparation for battle. The subjects of this image appear unhappy and malcontent. They appear to be thinking or questioning their current situation. This brings together the idea that the officers are simply doing there jobs and following orders. From this we can see a connection between the protesters and the police, each is doing what they believe to be right, be that standing up for justice, or doing what they are told to do so as to protect their jobs. Here we do not see the heartless officers portrayed frequently in images of Ferguson, nor do we see the hard, fearsome opposition that is to be assumed from photo 1. The idea presented here is that there may not be a "good" side or a "bad" side, just people who have different reasons and different motivations. There is no good side or bad side, just people.

The final image is a separation between sides, tying together all of the messages from previous images. Here we have a group of individuals, all of whom were affected personally by the events. There is a separation of sides here, however there is no indication of right versus wrong as is usually depicted with images like this one. There is no discernible difference in colour, or lighting, or facial expression that could distinguish either side as "right" or "good". Furthering the idea presented that there is no right or wrong side in the situation, just differing perspectives and differing people. The major difference shown is the apparent motion and higher energy in the side of the protesters, this amplified by the amount of differing and loud colours on the right side versus the left, drawing focus and appearing more energetic. This presents the idea that the right side is more aggressive or passionate. Additionally there is a great deal of unity on both sides, unity caused by a shared enemy, in the case of the police officers, the enemy being the possibly violent protesters and in the case of the protesters, the enemy being the police. Each individual protester feels prosecuted and wronged in some way and believes the police are to blame, causing them to unite and fight against them. Each individual police officer, believes they must stay and stand against the protest either out of fear of the riots becoming out of control or out of fear that their employment may be at risk. This is emphasized by the concerned expressions prevalent on the police officers. Unity, Anger, Fear and Morality, all a strong and important factor in not only this image.

In conclusion, a cultural issue affects every member of the community in some way. Some are offended and angered as a result of the issue. Sides are drawn by a difference in beliefs. Some are simply forced to attempt to control the situation caused by the outcry.
The issue undoubtedly affected the entire community of Ferguson and a number of people in all corners of the globe. If it didn't.... A Canadian english student wouldn't write a blog about it.