Audience Analysis of Civil Rights Amendment Protest Photo

I believe that the audience of this photo is anyone who was still on the fence about the adaptation of the Civil Rights Act, including members of Congress. The Civil Rights Act was essentially a watershed moment for equality, coming at a time when the division between various races, age groups, ideologies was quite high. I believe this photo to be influential because it clearly strives to demonstrate how many people were protesting, and the rigor to which they did so. This article provides an excellent overview of the CRA. It was initially proposed under Kennedy, but was put on hold as Southern Democrats viciously sought to prevent it from becoming law. I think the photograph appeals to a broad audience by being zoomed out so we see the overarching movement rather than just one protester. As we discussed in class, when trying to capture the emotion of an event it is often best to have one action that summarizes an entire point, such as this photo summarizing police brutality in the 1960’s. This photo on the other hand seeks not to summarize a movement but to speak to the scope and gravity of the protest, as a mass protest rather than a few people. The photo is taken from the very front, and seems to stretch on endlessly, perhaps a metaphor for how tirelessly these people had worked for equality. An outside observer would immediately notice the extreme large number of people, and their clearly worded signage, and feel at the very least sympathetic towards this group. Overall, I feel the photograph does an excellent job of appealing to a broad audience by showing the mass of people, but also being intimate enough to see the expressions and signs of those protesting.