Worth a Thousand Words...and Emotions

A few days ago, a young lady named Lindsey Stone took a photo next to a sign near the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at Arlington National Cemetery.  What I am sure she at first thought was a clever and witty photo, has turned into a firestorm in social media and in the media. 

Here is the photo she took and posted to her Facebook page:

Being in the military, the circles I keep went ballistic with their anger and comments toward Ms. Stone.  At first, I agreed with many people who were outraged.  Then, I took another look.

I graduated with a BA in Journalism from South Dakota State University.  During my courses, especially the photography courses, we were taught that one of the purposes of a good photo was to elicit an emotion.  The picture of a cute puppy or a little baby makes most people give an "awwww".  The photo of a fireman carrying a small child from the rubble of the World Trade Center draws out rage and a desire to avenge that act.  However, the same picture may get a different reaction from different people.  That cute puppy may not get an "awww" from someone who hates dogs.  It may be dislike or simply a much more muted response.

In the case of this photo, from a strictly journalistic view of it,  I believe it is a brilliant example of a photo eliciting a strong emotion by its content and was superbly done.  The irony of the picture cannot be lost, this person has a good eye for photography.  I am sure, that Ms. Stone does not hold those feelings inside and did not realize it would become such a viral image.  I am sure there are others, whose opinion of the picture is that they agree with the picture 100%.  The great thing about this country is that we can have different opinions of the picture and freely share them.

We are quick to judge sometimes when all we need to do is ask ourselves, how does this image make me feel and why?  Sometimes, our reactions are better kept to ourselves, or shared without attacking the photographer.