Return Fire
Robert Cohen’s 2015 photograph from the Ferguson/Michael Brown Riots is an incredibly moving and accurate example of the scenes found in that Missouri suburb at the time. The photograph was captured on August 13th, 2014, by Mr. Cohen for the St Louis Post-Dispatch. The shooting of Michael Brown occurred on August 9, 2014, in Ferguson, Missouri. Brown, an 18-year-old African-American male, was fatally shot by Darren Wilson, 28, a white Ferguson police officer. The disputed circumstances of the shooting of the unarmed young man sparked existing tensions in the majority-black city, and protests and civil unrest erupted, namely the “Black Lives Matter” movement and the “Hands Up, Don’t Shoot!” Movement.

Figure 1. Edward Crawford returns a tear gas canister fired by police …show more content…
He is standing in the middle of a street during the night time in a baseball pitcher’s stance. He is in the process of using his right hand to throw a can of tear gas back towards the officers who threw it in his direction. He also holds a bag of what looks like potato chips in his left hand. In the background two males appear to be cheering the man on as he throws the can back at the officers, and a few vehicles and street signs are present as well.

The photograph draws the viewer’s attention to the can of tear gas in the man’s hand. Gas has already begun to escape the can and it leaves a long trail of smoke leading to the left and pass the frame of the photograph. The light provided by streetlights, car lights and other ambient light sources help to light up the smoke.
We view the scene from eye level, the photographer was either standing fairly close to the subject at that moment in time or had a high quality long distance lens on their camera. Its possible that the photographer would have liked to be closer to the subject but that smoke protruding form the can kept him at