The social issue that I chose to write about is abuse, more specifically child abuse. As I was searching for meaningful images I came across a photographer named Crystal Harper. Her photos first caught my eye because of how powerful they are. In each photo I felt like I knew what the person in it was going though. She took many photos of children who have been abused and managed to capture not only their injuries, but their emotion as well. There are couple photos of a young boy below who has bruises all over his face from his abuser. Harper displays his sadness and fear by focusing on the the facial expression and sulking posture of the child. By doing this, the audience is able to feel the child’s defeated and helpless mood. She also uses many shadows and dark colors to support the dark composition of the photo as well as including the paintings of monsters all over the walls against a lighter background. Drawing attention to these paintings is important because they could could symbolize the child’s abuser. By using symbolism in her photography, Harper is able to have her audience visualize the child’s possible fear. Her mission is to bring light to the difficult effects of child abuse by conveying survivors emotions through her photos and that is exactly what she has done.
Here is the link to the website: https://listen.sdpb.org/post/photographer-draws-awareness-child-abuse
Here is the citation: Lockett, C. (n.d.). Photographer Draws Awareness To Child Abuse. Retrieved September 08, 2020, from https://listen.sdpb.org/post/photographer-draws-awareness-child-abuse
