Who Is This Man And Why Is He Screaming Analysis

Jennifer Dunn
Gifford
ENC 1102
September 10, 2014 Blank Canvas
Who would have thought a yawn captured at the breaking point could become such a universally well known image. Photographer Noam Galai thought he was taking a simple picture but what he did not know is how the world was going to react to it. In the story “Who Is This Man, and Why Is He Screaming?,” Rachel Kadish discusses how an art can be used universally for anyone to take it for what they feel it is. Images that are ambiguous can be interpreted by anyone however they want. An image like Noam’s can help with diversity, show reflection of opinion through viewers response to image and help people express themselves effectively. Taking what Galai thought to be a “cool and scary” (Kadish, 259) picture, who would have thought it would become and international symbol almost overnight. Galai put up this picture on his Flickr account
and soon forgot about it. That was, until his friend wondered why he did not bother to tell her he had licensed T-shirts with his self portrait on them. After that encounter Galai decided to put in some research and to his surprise learned there were over 50 matches of this image on the internet. Not only was his face seen on T-shirts, it soon began being used for advertisements, protests, graffiti inspiration and more.
In a world where religion and race can easily become a large factor on judging someone, this picture makes it okay to be from wherever and still feel a connection. “The image had rippled outward in all directions, passing straight through national borders” (Kadish, 260). With the face being unrecognizable there is no specific group the scream could belong to. I think that is what helped make it so well known because it was for anyone to relate to and feel any way they wanted towards it. When there is no ethnicity tied to an item it allows people to take it for what they want, which comes with positives and negatives.
With your face being plastered all over the world, there will be some type of recognition. Although he is typically not noticed right away for his picture, once its known he is the mastermind behind it people appreciate him more for it and have a piece to connect him with. It gives people a taste of what he is about. The statement “If your face isn’t private property, what is?” (Kadish, p. 262) shows Kadish is a little unsettled with the fact that anyone could take ahold of her cousins work and use it as they please. Negatives that come with this popularity is having no control over where it goes or who can use it. “He had no quarrel with anyone, except perhaps those selling Scream shirts for a profit” (Kadish, 261). Galai had never been paid for use of the image with the exception of a one time use by National Geographic while there were vendors out there using this picture for personal money making purposes.
How this image is viewed by an individual is a way to express a reflection of them. If a loud cry is imagined, one might be going through a hard time in life. For many others there is a scream so powerful it helps show their feelings through using it. “There were crude uses of the portrait and sophisticated ones. A few of those..had altered it, adding vampire’s teeth and blood” (Kadish, 260). Examples of how universal this image is would be it has been used as promotion for a rock-concert poster in Chile to being used as advertisement on unrelated events in numerous places such as Argentina, Germany and Brazil.
Happy, sad, mad or whatever emotion someone would want to associate this picture with somehow brings us together.
“A face that seemed to imply protest. Rage. Despair. Fist-pumping populism. Or, in some cases, just a rockin’ good time” (Kadish, 261). This image allows whoever is viewing it to attach whatever they want with it. There is no specific reason behind the photograph only a blank canvas that anyone is allowed to make it whatever the want. Galai’s photograph allows it to be used in so many places and in so many different contexts because it gives the viewer the ability to feel what provokes from them when looking at it. There is no right or wrong. Anyone’s opinion is heard and considered correct. “There’s something glorious and terrible about a world in which a picture of one’s face can sweep around the globe..”( Kadish, 262). When people are given that power it becomes seen as a positive because everyone likes to be able to express themselves without judgment. Knowing that no two people are confined to certain standards is a way of bringing them
together.
Communicating with non-verbal cues is an important factor in everyday life. Sometimes while in a conversation it is easer to express what one is trying to say through facials expressions. “My cousin’s face screams mutely from the walls in cities where protesters’ voices can be safely raised only under cover of dark” (Kadish, 262). With Galai’s picture no words are needed to feel expression, just like when communicating in everyday converesations. For example, when explaining something gross, a scrunched up face could help show unpleasant feelings stronger than simply saying something was unpleasant. They say pictures are worth a thousand words but in Galai’s case it may be even more.

Works Cited

Kadish, Rachel. “Who Is This Man, and Why Is He Screaming?” Emerging:
Contemporary Readings for Writers. Barclay Barrios. 2nd Ed. Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2013. pages I used, for example 256-263. Print.