Edward Crawford prepares to throw back a tear gas canister, fired by police who were trying to disperse protestors in Ferguson on August 13th, 2014. Photo by Robert Cohen.
As human beings, we collectively posses sentiments and theories surrounding any given proposition. After examining “The Superhero Photographs of the Black Lives Matter Movement” by Teju Cole, and conducting additional research upon the images he analyzes, I obtained a fresh perspective. By studying these various photographs with an outsiders eye, one can begin to comprehend and uniquely interpret why Cole refers to these protestors as ‘superheroes’. Police are obligated to fight crime in society, to protect the citizens of global communities. In the current media, police have perpetuated violence, hate, and ignorance. Many have disregarded their duties and fundamental objective to establish a safe environment for citizens to feel protected. Those who rebel and disengage from conventional standards by which society so heavily incites upon the people are those who curate new age breakthroughs, further compelling and insinuating a sense of solitude in our current world.
Out of the four photographs that Cole explores, I chose the image of Edward Crawford returning the blazing can of tear gas to the police simply because I had never seen it before. In no way was the image any more (or less) impactful than the rest. In fact, I found that these photographs have a far more significance when viewed together, rather than alone.
