Tuesday, September 25, 2012

Blog Exercise: Visual vs Symbolic Language



This is a picture most likely taken at a meeting of war veterans and active duty members.  On the wall, there is an American flag hanging.  In the forefront of the picture, two war veterans are hugging.  One veteran is older and the other is younger.  The older veteran looks like he is crying as he is embracing the younger veteran.  The younger veteran has also lost his arm due to the war and has a prosthetic.  Behind these two gentlemen are a group of people including another younger veteran and another older veteran.  All of the veterans pictured are in their respective military uniforms.

Responses or Feelings:
-thankful
-respect
-American
-heroes
-amputees
-veterans
-men and women serving our country
-medals/decoration
-American flag
-emotional
-happy
-safe and sound

Symbols:
-American flag: symbol of America, freedom
-military uniform: symbol of the military
-medals: symbol of military service and sacrifice
-decoration: symbol of military service

Underlying Compositional Structure:
The compositional structure greatly contributes to the listed responses and feelings that I have posted above.  The way the people in the picture were positioned, with the older veteran and younger veteran in the front, is very powerful.  You are able to see the emotion between the two gentlemen through their embrace and their facial expressions.  This is obviously a special moment and the emotion shines through in this photograph.

Picture Works Cited:


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