Power of Photography

While it seems very simple, this picture, by Boris Vdovienko, actually does seem to speak 1000 words. Firstly, the content of this picture is very powerful. We are shown a family who we might assume is being forced to travel elsewhere due to war in Russia. They carry a load of things on a cart that seems to be the only personal belongings they have left. Both men carrying the carts are leaning forward which gives the effect that these carts are not easy to pull along. We can hardly see their faces, but anyone looking at the picture knows the mood is glum. With hardly anything left except for their surviving family and a few personal belongings, they probably are finding it hard to keep going at this point in their lives. This makes the photograph give any viewer a sense of sadness for the situation these people were faced with. This sadness that the content of this photo conveys also classifies this photograph as expressive. On top of this, the photograph can be called a documentary photograph, because it is capturing a moment in time of the Russian war, where innocent civilians are seemingly leaving almost everything behind to escape problems. Lastly, one of the most striking parts of the photograph is the space. There is hardly anything surrounding the people. Due to the fact that there are no other people, animals, cars, etc., we feel an even stronger emotion of sadness. These people are truly alone and being forced to travel through desolate places, possibly in hope of getting somewhere safe.