Put Down Your Camera!
- James Bao
- Feb 27, 2023
- 1 min read
Updated: Jul 27, 2023
By James Bao
February 27, 2023
The original Kent State photograph shows Mary Ann Vecchio crouching over the body of Jeffery Miller, screaming desperately for help. My idea behind the image manipulation is to depict that, at times, journalistic practices are overly occupied by their “job assignment,” hence forfeiting the fundamental ability to empathize with and help those in need.
After manipulation:
The first significant change is the addition of the Cannon camera that zooms into Vecchio’s face. This change emphasizes the first-person perspective, which shrinks division between the photo and its viewers by reminding them of times when they have seen or been in similar circumstances of different magnitudes.
Then, I added numerous camera operators who point their devices toward Vecchio and the body. During this step, I specifically foregrounded the man in the bottom left corner, who is holding a news camera. This is to flaunt my “re-framed meaning” of the clash between journalistic practices and intervening/helping certain matters. You can also see two other operators (top left & bottom right) holding professional cameras, who are also recording the incident from a distance.
The second layer of the bottom left corner has a man documenting the event on his smartphone, where the play here is to include an element (cell phone) that didn’t exist when Filo took the photograph. This component poses as a channel that bridges the past and current, signifying that journalistic traditions have been, to a certain extent, excessively absorbed in their “duties” since the very beginning.
References
Filo, J. (1970). Kent State Pietà [photograph]. The Washington Post. https://www.washingtonpost.com/magazine/2021/04/19/girl-kent-state-photo-lifelong-burden-being-national-symbol/
