I like this photograph because it displays a sense of power to it.  For example: The man shows influence in the photograph and therefore we as the viewer should almost feel nervous in his presence.  To back this up, the man has got two young men behind him who convey a protective nature  over the man, therefore the man clearly has influence over these men.  This puts an imposing emotion on the viewer that makes us fear this man’s presence.  Also, the paintings in the background show stories of the past, showing that the man is knowledgeable but also has some level of authority over history because he can look back at history the way he wants to.  Also, the fact that the man has valuable ornaments emphasizes the man’s wealth in the sense that, these possessions, no matter the value of the currency, the value of the ornaments wealth will stay the same.  This emphasis of wealth and power make us feel wary and uncomfortable.  This is backed up by the fact the man is staring at the lens sort of challenging us.

I don’t like this photograph nor do I like it very much either.  This is because the feelings of pain and other similar emotions in my opinion aren’t particularly well expressed.  This is probably because the photographer wanted to communicate the idea that the man who we can’t see his face, generally tries to hide his pain.  However the fact his wound is being displayed in front of the camera shows he clearly isn’t successful at this. This makes us feel sympathetic towards this man with the fact that he is trying to hide his emotions probably because that he has no one to talk to.  However because we don’t see much of his face we can’t make a judgement of who he is so it is quite difficult to feel sympathetic in that respect.  Therefore I feel this photograph is confusing which is why I am not particularly enthusiastic about it.

I don’t like this photograph because it expresses negative feelings to the viewer.  For example: the woman is looking away from the camera. The fact she is doing this suggests she lacks in confidence to do so and therefore is afraid of interacting with us.   This makes the viewer feel somewhat guilty that we can’t do anything to help her.   Also, this is emphasized further with how the 2 children are cuddling into their mother’s shoulders. Children are often associated with happiness and joy, however the fact they are turning into their mother’s shoulders suggests the hostility of the setting that they are hoping to receive some sort of comfort from their mum.  However we know that the mum feels the same way as her children and so this comfort from the mum allows us to understand that it is a hollow, temporary comfort that doesn’t fix the problems.  It also makes us understand how the mum longs for someone to comfort her too.   Therefore this negative theme makes us feel sad, and makes us want to help but we can’t.