Striking Worker

Obrero en huelga, asesinado “Striking Worker Assassinated” by Manuel Alvarez Bravo is a representation of war through politics. He captures the image of reality of what people don’t want to grasp and accept. Bravo’s picture represents everyone in Mexico and throughout the world who had to fight for their rights during the time period in which the time photo was taken. Bravo was risky with his choice to take modest photos to show the truth of what was happening, promoting awareness. I think a lot of people would think it is immoral to capture dark moments including death that is so dramatic such as this photograph. I also agree believing that isn’t moral to capture the essence of a soulless body. Although Bravo had no intentions to demoralise but rather to make a statement about war some might not agree with his statement. It is hard for me to find a mutual ground on how I feel about photos similar to this one. For one, I find it disrespectful on a personal level to expose the worker in his condition of his death and allow it to become art. On the other hand I respect the artist for promoting awareness about the situation and allowing it to be recognized all over. I think making people and victims their subject in art and expression isn’t the right way to address what is really going on in the world. Especially those which travel the world in search of dark photos such as this to not make the political statement but simply for the money and recognition. Given this wasn’t Bravo’s intentions, but there are still those out there to do such things. If we look back at Mills Utilitarian’s outlook on pursuing happiness one might say that Bravo did not hurt anyone in promoting the awareness through his art assuming the worker either had no family member or that they had accepted Bravo’s intentions. In the end, I still find myself stuck in the middle of how I feel towards photography to create statements. In the end there is no beauty in art according to Tolstoy but rather