1)Police (Lawrence)
The sheer amount of task force police officers in this picture speak to a strong presence of authority. The single man in the photo is surrounded by the police or in this case the authority. The abundant number of police officers make the man seem small. The crowd of officers also represent the power of the authority in the way they outnumber the target. The power of authority overpowers and belittles the person or people on the receiving end. One officer (middle in the front) has his gun pointed at the civilian further asserting his authority over him. When it’s armed against unarmed, the armed party is the one with the authority or control over the situation.
2) Target (Sofiya)
There is disparity in power between the two sides. On one side we have an unarmed man with his hands in the air singling his surrender and the other side has multiple individuals with guns trained and pointed at the man. The target is clearly submitting to the higher authority through his actions of peace while the police in this picture show no sign of backing down or ending the matter even though the target is no longer a threat. The police hold the upper hand in this picture not only in terms of weapons but also in terms of the laws that protect them. In this scenario, the only right the man has is to surrender or to be shot for not cooperating. The target is also blurry in this picture, with the focus on the police with the guns which is interesting and seems to highlight the lack of power he holds.
3) Government (Wenne)
In the picture it shows a task force of police that are highly armed and aiming at an unarmed, defenseless person. From the picture, one can see that the people with the weapons and protective gear possess some sort of authority over their target. However, in terms of power play, the government influences a lot of authority. The government which is the shadow of the police force controls and operates the policemen. They have authority over both the police and the target in the photo because they are in command of what the police are allowed to do and since they are commanding the police they also have authority over the unarmed man as the man is submissive to the police.
You put a man in a police officer uniform and hand him weapons, and he forgets that he was once a common human being like you. Police officers are essential to our society because they are to protect us from harm. However sometimes it seems as if they can no longer protect us because they are the ones terrorizing us. It’s sad how the man in the photo is surrendering to the police officers with their weapons, yet there is still an officer with the gun pointed at him.
The power struggle seen in this picture shows how more than one entity can come together to conquer another. I agree that the government does aid in the power play in this picture. The government has the authority and power to tell the police what to do and when to do it. The police force are ordered to follow directions and listen to higher ups. The government is handing local police with military style equipment which in turn causes another power struggle between them and the locals. Local residents are struggling to fight back because the police are using excessive force when introduced to difficult situations.
-Sumaiyah Ali
So what you all are saying is that the authority line up starts with the defenseless civilian to the armed police force/military to the government and I completely agree. The civilians are tramped over by those who are granted authority. This photo actually represents many of the police brutality incidents that happened in the United States in the past few years such as the Eric Garner case.
This image is really relevant in recent cases that are spotlighted by the media.I am interested in where and when this photo was taken. The power lies in the armed forces and indirectly the government. Power is in the hands of those with weapons to which I agree strongly but I think this can shift to a normal citizen if they also had guns. I think this photo can bring out a lot of opinions in this class and serve as a great topic.
I agree with what your group is saying. The unarmed person in the photo clearly has a disadvantage against the group of people with guns. In my opinion, if the law enforcers didn’t have guns, I think the unarmed person would still have his or her hands up. One doesn’t need a gun simply to show authority. Police officers are supposed to always have authority because they are controlled by the government. The government is supposed to help the people it is governing. Guns are probably needed in this situation because there are dangerous men around the area.
Yancey Ko
This is image is quite relevant to the recent events we have had concerning the authority of the police, and their questionable use of excessive force. I agree that those who are supposed to protect us, end up hurting us instead. We’ve seen this in the cases of Michael Brown and Eric Garner, just to name a few. I also see that for those who are subjected to the power the police force has, they are limited in their choices. To surrender means to live, to be uncooperative means to be shot.
This is a compelling photograph, and this group does a very nice job pointing to several details. Work to get even more specific as to the details you mention. If there are wearing protective gear, for example, what exactly is that gear, and how does this contribute to your interpretation (or not). Nice job.
This picture speaks a thousand words. The powerless woman is depicted in this picture. If the picture were flipped in the other direction we would be able to see the shocked pale face she must be making. It would add even more to the picture. Nonetheless, the picture is still very shocking. The guns that are being held demonstrate the power that the men have in their hands. Many people have power in their hands and abuse it. The lives of others are in their fingertips and can make decisions on it in seconds.