An image can represent something different to each person that sees it. There are many properties in an image that may alter the viewers’ interpretation, some of which are demonstrated in the image above. One of these properties is balance, or symmetry. This photo demonstrates an unbalanced image. The viewers’ focus is not drawn to the center of the image, but to the right side of the photo where the child’s face is prominently featured. Another property shown by this photo is emphasis, or methods through which the artist may draw the viewers’ attention to certain material. Emphasis is used in this image by blurring out the background and only focusing on the child’s face. A certain amount of emphasis is also placed on the person lying in the background of the image. Their brightly colored shirt and their horizontal position, which contrasts with the position of the more prominently placed child, draws a certain amount of attention. It is possible that the person in the background is ill, and the artist chose to draw attention to them in order to impress upon the viewer the conditions that the more prominently placed child must live in. Proportion is also another important feature of the photo. The child’s face is much larger than anything else featured in the image, drawing further emphasis to the child. It is clear after analyzing different properties in this photo that the artist’s purpose was to draw the viewers’ attention primarily to the child in the foreground. Although the intention of this emphasis may be different to many people, this image is similar to many others that appeal to our sense of humanity and ask for our empathy towards a child.
Roland Barthes argued that we cannot know the exact intention of a writer. I agree with this statement and believe that this image supports Barthes’s claim. By adding a Bible verse to the image, the possible perceptions of the image are narrowed down but still not limited to just one interpretation. For example, there are three different “instructions” in the text: to act justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God. The placement of this text with this image may emphasize a different portion of the text to each person. One person may see the child’s face and see most clearly the line about “loving mercy.” They might feel more obliged to make a donation to the cause of an organization using an image similar to this. Another person may respond more heavily to the line that says “to walk humbly with your God.” This image might impress upon them a deeper sense of humility.
