1. Photo Analysis
Shanaya Crotts
FYS100
Dr. Harold Blanco
3/7/16
As I was analyzing a photo of Hitler and a little boy, I took note of several different
things. I believe that this photo could have been drawn for several different reasons. The first
being that the person drawing the photo was trying to show that Hitler actually did care for his
people. Next reason could be maybe that the artist was trying to show how two faced humans can
be, especially while competing to be a leader. My last idea is that the artist was trying to show
how sneaky Hitler was and his plan behind his “kindness.” Throughout this paper I plan to
explain how I came to believe that these three points could be why the picture was drawn.
My first assertion is that the artist was trying to show that Hitler was a genuinely nice
person. I have observed several things in this photo that has brought be to this idea. In the photo,
there were two ladies who seems very happy. The light was shining on their faces showing a
lightness and life to the women. There was also a lot of light on the young boy. Light usually
represents goodness or happiness. Hitler is also holding the young boys hand which seems to be
a loyal and genuine action towards the boy. The photo is cropped just enough to show three
women smiling and trusting in their current/future leader. Also, everyone in the photo seems to
be healthy and plump. There is no sign of dehydration or abnormal eating habits which shows
that Hitler took care of his citizens. While first observing this photo it made me feel happy or
uplifted possibly due to the light in this black and white photo. This photo has very many
elements to look at but overall I believe that what I have said thus far has shown why I came to
2. one of the conclusions that I did. I have proved this assertion by giving details about the photo
that make it seem to have showed that Hitler cared about his people.
My next theory is that the artist is trying to show that no one knows a human beings
intentions on the inside. The reason I say this is that in my day and age we know what exactly
happened with Hitler basically creating WW2. We do not know when this photo was drawn so it
could have been after all of the destruction happened. As this photo was drawn the artist put
emphasis on the women being happy and healthy meaning that they trusted Hitler. He also
seemed to be portrayed as very gentle and loving with the boy. There is a lot of light on the top
and right half of the photo showing something good. The boy looks like he is suspicious of Hitler
by the way his face was drawn in confusion. Another thing I noticed is that Hitler has a lot of
shading on him showing darkness or possible evil. I think that the artist was shining light on all
of the people who believed in Hitler but in all reality Hitler was a dark evil person which the
artist portrayed in a different way. While the viewers are looking at this photo from the outside
seeing Hitler’s good deed, he is rotting on the inside. Hence the shadows around Hitler. Overall
this photo could have several meanings. But, I think that I have proved that the artist was trying
to show that no one knows a person’s intentions on the inside by explaining the photo in depth.
My last assertion is that Hitler was trying to show how sneaky and tricky he can be.
There are a lot of similar reasons that I have mentioned before in my previous assertions. The
reason I made this assertion is because Hitler is being extremely nice to a little boy when he
could have just walked past but every leader knows that they need good publicity. I think that
was tricky because his intentions were clearly bad as we can see now but he was making them
look good in the photo. The women were completely falling for his act and smiling. I think that
the women smiling are a huge part of this photo because it means they were happy with Hitler
3. and the child. But the picture also seems to be cropped or maybe the artist ran out of ideas but it
seems suspicious. Hitler also has shadows on his face and around him which I believes that it
represents that Hitler knew exactly what he was about to do but did not care on the inside and
just acted like it on the outside. My last reason I believe this is because the little boy seems very
confused or worried. There is an emotion in his eyes that the artist placed there for a reason. I
think overall that I have proved how this photo displays Hitler’s master mind behind it all by
sharing my opinion on the lighting and placement of the photo.
In conclusion, I believe that there could be three different meanings behind this photo.
The first being that Hitler actually cared about his people during this time. Next is the artist was
trying to show there is some bad in every good intention. Lastly, the artist was trying to show
how tricky Hitler actually was during this time. I think that I have proved each of these theories
to be true by providing evidence in the photo such as lighting, placement, etc. Overall I have
shown what I believe and think about this photo with the facts to back my theories up.
