Visualizing and Narrating

The image that is being focused on the Time magazine is about the picture of a woman carrying apples and cookies plus some newspapers for sale on a street in the downtown city of Port-au-Prince in Haiti. She stands under the sunlight in the mist of others during an afternoon on the day of February 5th 2010 few weeks after the disastrous earthquake that struck Haiti. There are some messages and some languages that this image is communicating to us the audience or readers. First of all the expression of the image. The posture of the woman in the picture. There is also the language of facial expression. The manner in which she is selling her products. The environment that surrounds her also tells something. First if all the expression on her face shows more of sorrow, distress, and unhappiness as she does her business. It might be as a result of losing her whole marketing business due to the earthquake and all that she has left is the few that she carries on her head. It could also be possible that she lost her home and belongings to the earthquake and therefore selling the food that she has in order to get some more to take care of herself and family. Due to the disaster, people are mourning the loss of their families, looking for their families or seeking refuge. People may not pay much attention to her items because there is so much going on. The background which is filled with crowded people shows that people are roaming around homeless, without their families or also trying to sell items like the woman in the main focus. Also, the surroundings appear to be polluted, destroyed, and show an image of confusion which depicts that a disaster has indeed taken place. Even with the people in the background, some are seen walking barefooted and some are seen walking shirtless all showing that they are all in an uncomfortable situation. In the background, a random person could also be seen holding some bottles in his arm. The bottles look somehow like medicine bottles or some bottles that he is seeking to fill with some drinking water. Also there are some white bags in the background that looks like food supply bags made for the people buy the first aid people. Every image whether the main focus or the background has a significant message to tell that it is showing the event of a natural disaster.