Evidence of Violence

I chose a close-up detail image of seats covered in blood in a soccer stadium. Its visual elements help tell its story in one shot. This image is violent and is a historical marker of violence. The entire stadium is vacant of people. The only humans that exist are far away and out-of-focus. The focus is on stadium chairs, with a blood spattered one at the center. A pool of blood has collected on the pavement beneath the seat. The background is slightly out of focus, but it can be determined the stadium is a soccer field.

The soccer pitch is visible in the background, which gives information about the setting. The violence could have occurred at a soccer game, between two fans of opposing teams. The image is violent, and successful at conveying that violence directly through the blood. The subject matter of focus is chairs. These chairs belong to the spectators of the game, which also indicates the violence occurred between fans. The empty stadium and seats indicate that the fans have left and the riot has ended, but the blood is sticky-shiny so not too much time has passed.

This photograph gives a lot of information visually, and it’s a solid backbone in a visual story of a soccer riot in Egypt that resulted in the death of 73 people. Specific information like this does have to be learned from the caption so the image does not work solely by itself. The image remains direct however; visual clues tell the viewer that the violence happened at a soccer match. The texture of the blood is a time marker, and it can be assumed that the violence happened previously. This photograph overall is evidence of violence at a soccer game.

B.Dunn