Discuss the photograph below with specifics to the given - Assignment Example

Visual Art: Girl with Flag Since its invention, photography has been considered one of the best means of bringing the realities of the world to the attention of the public eye elsewhere. Through photographs such as the Girl with Flag image, people are able to get a sense of reactions elsewhere, whether these reactions are to local events to the place the photograph was taken or to national events as was the case with this image. “As an aid in the search for reality, the photograph offered an immediate, faithful and permanent record, a source of artistic exploration” (Brown, 1971: 31).

Iconic images such as "Girl with Flag" taken by Ethan Miller for the Las Vegas Sun become iconic because of their ability to blend a sense of reality with a sense of the artistic to fully convey the feelings of the time. In this image, a little blond-haired girl in jeans and a grey T-shirt with what appears to be an American flag printed on it, sits on the shoulders of her father, causing her to rise clearly above the crowd around them, as she solemnly looks up at the unfurled American flag she holds in one hand and has her other hand uplifted and outstretched.

The photo was taken on the night after the 9/11 attacks in 2001 when the Las Vegas community held a massive candlelight vigil for those who died that day (Shine, 2011). The darkened sky above the little girl appears to be filled with sparks of light while the area below her is filled with the faces of sad-eyed adults of multiple different races, all grieving together. Through the artistic use of the camera as well as the experience of the human eye, Miller was able to capture a scene that epitomized the sentiments of the country at that time.

The photo spoke to the culture in a number of ways at that time. The crowd is very diverse in both age and race, illustrating the concept that this is a united country, especially in times of trouble. As a nation, we value our ability to unite as this crowd has done within a single emotional response to a terrible event. The fact that they are all of adult size with the exception of the little girl really highlights her youth and the concept that we believe in upholding our children as the future of the nation.

The effect of the sparks of light occurring above the little girl in the image combined with the fact that she is looking up gives the impression that these sparks may be the lost souls making their departure, but they are actually just pinpoints of light that are out of focus. This technique is called bokeh and is achieved by opening the aperture a bit wider than normal so that only the foreground image is in focus, causing the lights behind it to become fuzzy balls of light (Rowse, 2011). Overall, the photo conveys the sense of loss, sadness, and togetherness that was experienced by the nation at that time.

This photo continues the established tradition of photojournalism in which it is understood that “photographs supply information without having a language of their own. Photographs quote rather than translate from reality” (John Berger cited in Elliott & Lester, 2002). However, it extends beyond merely conveying a sense of the reality of the moment and crosses into the realm of art with its depth of expressive quality and the technical details necessary to get the shot. “In the late 1970s, the cultural importance of photojournalism began to be recognized by the art world, and photojournalists were given exhibitions and retrospectives at museums and galleries” (Westbrook, 2002).

After the photo was picked up by Reuters and transmitted around the world, it has become an icon of Americas sadness, its unity, and its enduring hope for the future. Works CitedBrown, Milton W. “The History of Photography as Art History.” Art Journal. Vol. 31, N. 1, (Autumn 1971): pp. 31-32 + 36. Print.Elliott, Deni & Lester, Paul Martin. Visual Communication and an Ethic for Images. (2002). Web.Miller, Ethan. "Girl with Flag." Las Vegas Sun. (September 10, 2001). Photograph. Rowse, Darren.

"How to take beautiful bokeh Christmas images." Digital Photography School. (December 12, 2011). Web. Shine, Connor. "10 years later, Las Vegas Sun photo of girl with flag still resonates." Las Vegas Sun. (September 10, 2011). Web. Westbrook, Dillon. “A Brief History of Photojournalism.” Photography Schools. (2002). Web.