I love photography and digital art. Finding ways to represent something that requires no explanation is a skill that I strive to perfect. Perfect – what a term, but the problem is, not everyone sees an image in the same light so it is a continual challenge.
In my job, I work with social media to tempt users to my client’s websites. This involves using images to lure, rather than text. People don’t read a lot of text on social media, it is more of a visual platform so waffling on for two pages about how great a product is, is going to fall, literally, on deaf ears. To grab users the best method is one sentence, as few words as possible, and an image that links to the website.
The image below is not from social media but it is an example of an image, that needs no explanation.
The image is called “Wheels of Death”. Taken by: William Seaman. It won the Pulitzer Prize in 1959.
1959 Pulitzer Prize winner.
At first glance this image resembles an amateur photograph that is about a bunch of “stuff”, however this tells a tragic story of a car crash. The image takes the viewer from the crushed toy wagon at the front of the image, to the body, to the policeman, and finally, to the paramedic walking away in the distance. The photographed scene creates in me, great emotion: devastation, loss.
Here is a comprehensive list of other Pulitzer Prize winning photographs.
The Pulitzer Prizes – Honoring Excellence in Journalism and the Arts