Regarding the Pain of Others

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After some thought I came to the conclusion that America, and much of the World, views the United States as being this dreamland where nothing bad happens. However, in reality there have been horrible events on American soil, but the people that occupy the land choose to overlook it because it could ruin the reputation they worked so hard to get.

After reading this I actually feel like America is a photo that from the outside looks perfect, but in actuality has gone through it’s own hardships and mistakes like anywhere else on Earth.

Image: World Wildlife Fund: Polar Bear

Observations:

Looking at this image I see your typical alley. In the alley there are freight doors that are closed and there are a couple garbage cans on the left side of the alley near the back street. The buildings that occupy this alley are semi run down and there are a few graffiti markings that have been placed on them as well.

On the left of the image the green paint on the building appears to be fading or washing off and the color from the image goes to black and white a third of the way across the image with the only exception being the green garbage container farther down the alley that are also green.

In the center of the image is a polar bear leaning on a freight door that has a blanket, and has a paw up looking at the viewer. In front of the Polar Bear are a few pieces of cardboard that overlap.

The most obvious part of this image is the sign that is posted over the garbage containers that says “You can help stop global warming”.

Interpretation:

With the words in the top right speaking to the viewer to help stop global warming the topic of this image is perfectly clear.

With that being said this image speaks a lot to me. What I see is a Polar Bear that sits in the place of a homeless man and is on his last ditch effort to survive. With just a blanket in its possession it gives the idea that the Polar Bear has nothing left at this point in life.

When looking at the image from left to right, the green that starts on the left is gone a third of the way across the photo. I feel that this is to show that time is running out for this Polar Bear and the green garbage containers on the right of the image are a reminder to think about how we dispose of our waste. To me all of the color or lack there-of is a subtle way of saying that in order to help this Polar Bear the viewer must change their way of disposing of garbage.

Lastly, seeing the Polar Bear with his paw up to me looks as if the Polar Bear is trying to say “stop, I’ve had enough”. Almost like the Bear has done everything it can to prevent global warming but it has become too much to handle so now the Bear is turning to the viewer for help.