Dominique M. Sears

3 Photograph Analysis

Freshman Year Seminar

The first picture is in black and white with four, white boys riding on bikes with their right hands

raised in the air. you can not tell what country they are in by the scenery but because of their matching

uniforms you know they are all together in an organization. The first thing I thought about when I saw

this picture was Nazi Germany so I googled "Nazi Germany Boys on Bikes" And the picture instantly

popped up. The picture is four of Hitler's Youth riding toward Berlin. The photographer is trying to

display the innocence and heart of Germany. How Hitler and his flowers conveyed their beliefs to the

youth. The picture is important to history because it showed that Hitler reign not only ove r the adults

but also over children and organizations. This photograph raised the question "Did these children really

know what that hand symbol meant? Did they really know that the person they were saluting would kill

millions of people?" My own caption for this Picture would be "Do the children of Nazi Germany really

know what's happening?"

The second photo is of 13 men in what looks to be American soldiers, both black and white. And

From their uniforms they are either late WWII or Vietnam soldiers. They are at war, not in the United

States but overseas. They have guns and equipment, the gun I might add is not American. If you look

close enough the gun has a wooden stock, which America has never had. It is an AK-47 which is Russian,

who funded Vietnam. When Americans would take over they would steal the guns, ammunition , and

supplies, just like in any other war. This picture conveys American Spirit and happiness, which Americans

alone were not feeling towards the war so it may have been used to try and sway Americans thought

towards the war. Its important in history because it showed an integrated squad (12 people) and their

captain being happy. And the guy in front in sandals, is a south Vietnamese civilian who joined. You can

tell by his shoes, no US military person at this time would wear sandals. This photograph raised one

question, "What were they doing/ what did they just finish doing?" I would put "The true American

Army" as a caption for this picture.

The third picture of a group of men, with three pouring jugs of liquid on the streets. These men

are well dressed for the time and predominantly rich white men. This picture illustrates prohibition.

During prohibition church and state mixed badly. The government used religion as a way to take away

liquor, to all Americans. Therefore these people being wealthy, white, and happy to be pour alcohol out

on the street, probably was all for prohibition, and probably very religions. This picture in important to

history because this was the start of a whole new type of America. Many Americans did not like the

prohibition and even rich people found the underground bars, with moonshine and illegal liquor, where

they mingled with all types of people (rich, poor, black, white, man and women). This time period also

led way to a new type of music and bar. Cabarets were introduced and the prohibition led to the Zigfield

Follies. After seeing the picture I wondered who these men were exactly, and why they were so eager

for prohibition. A caption I would put for this photo would be "Pour out the sin and freedom".