fys

1. Anna Woomer
FYS
Photo Analysis Essay
For this essay, I chose the image of the African American man being attacked by the
police trained German Sheppard’s. This image shows a crowd of African American citizens
standing in the street, several police officers with police dogs and one man in the middle being
bitten by one of the dogs. This image depicts how unequal African Americans were viewed in
America. It shows the harsh life African American citizens were forced to live day in and day
out over 50 years ago.
This image makes me feel confused because there is not any information to go off of. It
can easily be assumed this was taken during the time of segregation, however, it cannot be
determined if this was a protest of some sort or if the citizens were just in a white only area.
During segregation, African Americans were forced under the Jim Crow Laws to abide by white
only zones and black only zones. They were legally separated from white citizens in almost
every aspect of life. They did not attend the same schools, eat at the same restaurants, sit
beside each other on buses, or even drink from the same water fountain. This assumption of
the image also makes me feel sad because this picture goes to extremes in the way it depicts
how things were handled. I highly doubt the police dogs were necessary in solving whatever
issue was occurring. I also do not personally think the man in the middle deserved to be
attacked by one of the dogs, unless he was carrying an illegal substance.
This image is relatively older because it is in black and white. It is a larger scaled image
and it has not been cropped. The image is crowded due to everything that is going on. There
are numerous individuals, dogs, trees in the background, and city streets all in one picture. My

2. gut reaction to this picture is disgust and feelings of being ashamed. These are humans that are
being treated this way and I think that it is disgusting and something to be ashamed of.
This image shows the brutal reality African Americans were faced with in our country 50
years ago. They were separated and forced to feel lower as individuals because their skin
wasn’t white. This image shows a black American citizen being surrounded by police officers
and bitten by a police dog. It was obviously taken during segregation when laws forced the
separation between whites and blacks. Instances like the one portrayed in this image, as
disturbing as it is, luckily led to the passing of the Civil Rights act which gave all African
American individuals the same rights as all white Americans.