As time has progressed, people in this country have become less and less immune to the reality of death. Due to this, life does not seem as valuable to some as it does to others. People don’t always think about the consequences death has on people and how it affects them emotionally. No matter who is being killed death will always have a negative affect on someone, as seen in the visual of Pei Xia Chen; wife of Officer Wenijan Liu is deeply saddened by the death of her husband. When a person is killed it only leads to heartache, heartache that will slowly eat at a person and tear them down day by day. Though death sometimes seems small because it has no direct relation to the viewer, it will always be a monumental incident in someone else’s life because that’s the reality of death.
Unfortunately death is not inevitable, it will eventually play a role in everyone’s lives. Sadly death can happen for some sooner than it will happen for others, and no matter when or how death happens it will always be out of the person’s control. Unfortunately death can also be the result of murder, whether premeditated or even spontaneous. For Officer Liu death was not preventable, his attacker Ismaaiyl Brinsley had a plan to murder any police officers that he came across. A plan that would turn a beautiful sunny day in New York into a dark gruesome crime scene. The visual is surrounded by darkness, darkness that was created by the brutal murders that took place, and a darkness that laid rest over New York for weeks as everyone tried to make since of the killings.
The overall vision for the photograph was darkness and sadness, photographer Carlo Allegri wanted to show how death is a very tragic and sorrowful time that nobody should have to go through, not even the families of officers that are here to protect and serve. Often times at funerals family, friends and other visitors wear black to help mourn the dead Mrs. Chen is no exception to this rule. She is wearing a heavy jacket that is black as a cold winters night, black is the absence of all colors, and death is the absence of all light. When Mrs. Chen wears black she is showing that black is permanence, as is her husbands death. Nothing she can do nor say will bring Officer Liu back from the dead, all she has to hold onto are the memories she has with him.
Also in the visual, almost in the direct center you can see Ms. Liu wearing bright white gloves holding a candlestick. Candles are often lit at a funeral service because light is pure as if it were to re-nourish the life of someone who has passed. Same with the bright white gloves, readers can infer that the purity of the candle should be handled with the hand of someone that is also pure. Also showing aspects of purity viewers can see the portrait of Officer Wenijan Liu. The picture that Mrs. Chen is holding was the picture that Officer Liu took as his headshot for the New York Police Department. Officer Liu can be