I love this picture because it is at once inspiring and disturbing. It is a crowd of children behind the fence of a high school in 2008, waiting for Senator Barack Obama to arrive. They are so eager to see him that they are pressed up against the fence, even climbing on their friends' shoulders, craning to catch a glimpse of him.
The disturbing thing about this picture is how strikingly it resembles a zombie movie. The figures are silhouetted, and their uniform outstretched limbs connote a certain sort of hunger - reminiscent of Dawn of the Dead, a little bit, especially the bright sun in the background and the shapes the shadows cast on the fence. Mrs. Hall just came by and pointed out that it looked like some old photographs of concentration camps.
I find it very interesting how Obama supporters have been typecast as a sort of mindless mass not entirely different from zombies, believing him to be a savior of sorts. And like all stereotypes, there is some truth to that - it's pictures like this that really bring that point home.
It is a powerful picture. I find it interesting like any piece of art how much of how we interpret it is based on the reader's experience/perspective.
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