Assignment W4A1 – Analysis of Ukraine-Russia War Photo

Anna Zhelisko touches the casket of her grandson, Ukrainian soldier Dmitry Zhelisko, as it arrives for his funeral in Chervonohrad, Ukraine, on April 3rd, 2022. He died fighting the Russian army near Kharkiv. ~ Joe Raedle/Getty Images

This photo by Joe Raedle (Getty Images) was shot on April 3rd, 2022 in Chervonohrad, Ukraine. It conveys very strongly the human emotion of loss and grief that is associated with war. The strong emotions on Anna’s face as she grieves for her dead grandson is a horrifying reminder of the immense human suffering of war. It is important that the loss in human life and in property are not merely represented as numbers in a great statistical game. War leads to immense suffering and this should be the first thought that comes to our minds and especially in the minds of our political leaders, so that the possibility of war can be significantly reduced in the future. Photos like these are very important to create a lasting impression of the horrors of war in minds of casual viewers all across the world so that a collective aversion towards war can eventually arise within the minds of people across the world. Aesthetically, this is a rather simple composition with a few strong elements. The first would be the strong emotions captured on Anna’s face which can evoke a sense of compassion and sympathy from the viewer. The bright yellow and blue Ukrainian flag draped over the coffin clearly alludes to the war in Ukraine. This is in stark contrast with the dimmed features in the rest of the photo. The prominent role of the Ukrainian flag immediately gives a sense of context and time to the viewer and its role cannot be overstated. The placement of the military cap on top of the coffin is another strong emotional elements that conveys a sense of loss. The photo was shot with a relatively low depth-of-field and effectively brought out Anna from the background. This prominent focus on Anna’s face allows the viewer to strongly connect with her and not distracted by the other subjects in the frame. The frame also includes other subjects such as the woman on the left holding her palms to her face in grief. This in addition to the blurred faces of the other subjects in the background also convey a collective sense of grief and loss. The presence of uniformed soldiers in the frame clearly conveys the wartime nature of this photo. Interestingly, we do not see any of the faces of the Ukrainian soldiers in the frame. This could have been a purposeful omission by the photographer to convey the dehumanization of soldiers in the wider narrative of war. This is because the more the people at large are made to regard soldiers as mere “robots” in a war (i.e., not anyone’s son, grandson, father, brother, husband, boyfriend, friend, etc.), the easier it will be to conduct such wars by the political leaders.