Believe

Agent: Carina Lofgren

Act: A homeless man stands outside of a Nicolette Mall department store in Minneapolis. He holds a small bag were he keeps the money that passer-bys give him. Besides him are his things--water, a cane and a bag full of his possessions. My argument is that even in a wealthy, first-world country, poverty exists. The contrast between the homeless man and the store front--that previews high-class merchandise--is so extreme, yet is an hidden norm of society.  

Agency: One design element that makes the photo stronger is the ad in the store front that says, "believe. Having the freedom to be successful is an offer that the United States prides itself on, and the ad sells that  by saying, "hey if you believe you can be happy, successful and beautiful (like the models), you can--just buy our product." But the homeless man is standing on the outside, in the cold. The homeless man is so close to the people who are happy, successful and beautiful, but indeed he is the polar opposite. 

Audience: This happened, as mentioned earlier, in the Nicolette Mall area near the Minneapolis Convention Center. I was there for a journalism convention. 

Purpose: To be honest, when I fist snapped this photo I was not paying attention to the background--at least consciously. My original intent was to capture the scene of the Nicolette Mall area--an assignment for a photography class at the Journalism convention, however, after analyzing my own photograph, the purpose changed. Now the purpose is to show the very poor living standards that exist even in a first-world country such as the United States.