Carney 1 Michelle Carney Dr.

Erin Dietel-McLaughlin Multimedia Writing & Rhetoric, Section 13 11 October 2013 Igniting a Change American photographer, Charles Moore, set out into the midst of the Birmingham, Alabama protests of 1963 in order to shoot a series of images that depicted the magnitude of the repression and violence that was occurring in the Civil Rights movement. His goal was to help African Americans obtain the support of the country by symbolizing their plight through a few images. The variety of techniques that Moore implemented when taking his photographs aid in highlighting the suffering and oppression of the African Americans and in turn, strengthens one's desire to come to their aid. George Kennedy describes this practice of rhetoric as, the energy inherent in emotion and thought, transmitted through a system of signs, including language, to others to influence their decisions or actions (qtd in Herrick 5). This paper will discuss the most central symbolic elements contained in Moore's photos including framing, ethos, pathos, and contrast. Additionally, it will analyze their features which are able to influence and persuade their viewers through the art of photography. Moore captured numerous photographs during the time of the Civil Rights movement; however, this paper will focus on only three that serve as being most influential in Moores goal. The first image is that of two young, black men and a woman huddled into a corner in a futile attempt to escape the blast of a fire hose. The second photo displays a policeman holding his dog close to the camera with the dog staring directly at the photo's viewers. Behind him are other policemen who are allowing their dogs to ferociously tear at the

Carney 2 clothes of a defenseless, black protestor. In the background of this photograph, viewers can see other protestors standing on the sidewalk, watching the event, but not helping. The third photograph being analyzed focuses on a lone woman being pounded down by the powerful blast of a fire hose. Behind her is a group of men standing on the sidewalk, watching her suffer. These three photographs prove to be key in the development of Moores argument. Some experts believe that framing is fundamental in the successfulness of a mediums rhetoric. Communications scholar Judith Lancioni draws from Tom Benson who claims that it is necessary for a rhetorical analysis to investigate the ways the text positions the spectator as an active participant in the making of meaning (106). Each photograph is framed in order to cause one to focus on certain aspects of the photograph while purposely excluding others to influence the viewers interpretation. In the photograph of the women being sprayed, she is centered and while not the only person in the photo, her face is the only face visible and is the clear focus. In the photo of the three protestors huddled together enduring the blast of the hose, their faces are largely hidden but their body positions are a memorable feature. Through the face of the women and the body positions of the huddled group of three, Moore forces his viewers to vividly experience their pain and suffering. In these photos, the person who is spraying the hose is excluded from the photo. In doing so, the attention is kept on the African Americans. Moore did not intend to bring hatred to the firemen or police; rather his goal was only to gain the country's support for the African Americans. He intentionally excluded the perpetrators of the cruelty from the photos in order to achieve this. The photo of the police dogs features a different method of framing. One dog is positioned very close to the camera, which causes viewers to feel as if they are very close to the violence. Bolter and Grusin describe this effect stating, A transparent interface would be one

Carney 3 that erases itself, so that the user is no longer aware of confronting a medium, but instead stands in an immediate relationship to the contents of that medium (24). Transparency allows viewers to feel more immersed in the scene, which enables them to feel stronger emotions toward the subject. In this case, the staring eyes of the dog help to bring the viewers into the scene. Bringing emotions into the photographs is a powerful tool that Moore takes advantage of in order to sway viewers to support his beliefs. This use of emotional appeals can be a very powerful tool in influencing an audiences view since people will want to reduce these adverse emotions by supporting the side of the cause that appears more just. The brutality and injustice against the unarmed protestors in the photos is intended to provoke unsettling feelings due to the harmful response by the white people in the images. In the photo with the police, the dogs are ferociously attacking and tearing at a black mans clothes. The man is defenseless and can only try to protect himself from the dogs while the police do nothing to stop them. This image brings feelings of unrighteousness and uneasiness that make viewers want the attacks to end. In the other photos, viewers see two men and a women cowering in a corner in attempt to protect themselves from the strong blast of the hose and a woman being knocked off her feet from the water with no one coming to her aid. Moore allows his viewers to experience the pain and fear of the protesters in hopes of inciting a desire to help and protect them. Many aspects of the photographs also contain pieces that seem socially incorrect to their viewers. An example of this can be seen in the photo of the woman being sprayed. First, she is alone in the street, which would be highly unusual for a woman at that time. Not only that, but violence against a defenseless women is also shocking. Opposing Moores intention, the caption paired with the photograph in Life Magazine states, Struck on her knees by hose blast as she ran forward to taunt the police, a Negro girl frantically tries to jump clear. An instant later she was

Carney 4 knocked down (29). While the police may have felt provoked by the young women, the degree of force used to stop her was excessive. The protestors were weaponless and had no intention of being violent; therefore the police appear to be acting unjustly. The viewers are left with a sense of confusion when they see the police harming the peaceful protestors, since the duty of the police is to protect America's people. The photographs take advantage of contrasting shades of grey to add emphasis to more relevant objects and create a distinction between the foreground and background. This affects the rhetoric of the photograph by leading one to concentrate on different parts of the scene. The woman who is being knocked down by the spray is a much darker shade than the rest of the image. Opposing this, the water is a much lighter shade. This contrast causes viewers to focus on the act of aggression against the women. A large contrast in shades is also displayed in the other photograph of the dark African Americans being sprayed by the bright, white water. In all three of the images, the background is a medium shade of grey. This deters the viewers gaze from focusing on the background until they have seen the object that is most important to his argument. For instance, we see the woman being sprayed first, however, after concentrating on the photograph, we then notice that there are men standing in the background, with only one coming to her aid. This figure is included since it causes viewers to identify with him and implant the idea that they should be helping these people. It appears that this man is making a morally correct action that viewers will want to follow. For an object to have rhetoric, it is necessary for it to be created as a response to a crisis. This can be described in two different forms. Bitzer declares, A work of rhetoric is pragmatic; it comes into existence for the sake of something beyond itself; it functions ultimately to produce action or change in the world; it performs some task (3-4). Bitzer also discusses the idea of

Carney 5 exigency, or an imperfection marked by urgency (6). Moores photographs contain both of these features since they were made in response to the oppression of the African Americans, and with the hope that they are able to bring them support. They were featured in an issue of Life magazine, which was printed shortly after the protests. This put the images out into the public, giving the country a chance to see how terrible the protests were and pushing them to want to help the African Americans. By capturing each image using the various rhetorical strategies, Moore attempted to influence his viewers. He made his viewers see, feel, and experience the struggle of the protestors first hand, and by doing so, he hoped to incite a reaction that would put an end to the racial struggles of his time.

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Works Cited Bitzer, Lloyd F. "The Rhetorical Situation." JSTOR. Penn State University Press, n.d. Web. 10 Oct. 2013. Brereton, P. "Jay David Bolter and Richard Grusin, Remediation: Understanding New Media, (Cambridge, MIT Press, 1999), 295 Pp. ISBN 0-262-02452-7." Convergence: The International Journal of Research into New Media Technologies 6.2 (2000): 120-22. Print. Herrick, James A. The History and Theory of Rhetoric: An Introduction. Boston: Allyn and Beacon, 2005. Print. Lancioni, Judith. "The Rhetoric of the Frame Revisioning Archival Photographs in." Western Journal of Communication 60.4 (1996): 397-414. Print. Moore, Charles. Civil Rights Movement. 1963. Photograph. Snite Museum, Notre Dame. Moore, Charles. "Ominous Spectacle in Birmingham." Google Books / LIFE. N.p., n.d. Web. 11 Oct. 2013.