PETA Image Analysis.

This image doesn’t have a caption with it, so you’d have to guess a lot of the information ourselves. Looking at the PETA website, I discovered that this was a 2009 campaign against using animals for meat. The price of the packaging is in dollars, so we can assume that the image was probably taken in America. This (part of a series of images) were taken for the PETA site, to demonstrate the human equivalent of cruelty to animals.

I think the photographer’s interest in this was probably to get across the message that using animals for meat is wrong by showing the human equivalent. After all, nobody looking at these images would start to feel hungry! The background to this image is that it was taken for PETA, an animal rights charity who tireless campaign around the calendar against animal cruelty and for animal rights, and are strong supporters of vegetarianism.

This image is vertical, so we can see as much of the model as possible, and take in the whole image. The image looks like it has been cropped, probably to maximise the dramatic effect so that all we can see is this apparently dead girl in a meat tray, no background, nothing else. We have to look at the image. The girl’s body is lying sort of diagonally, so that our eyes are led through the picture, taking it all in.

As the PETA website told me, this image was taken outside on the streets, so I believe the lighting may be naturally or maybe with just a flashgun. It looks quite light, so I would say this picture is from around lunchtime/early afternoon. The image has been shot in colour, so we can see the colour of the blood on the girl, making the situation seem that bit more dreadful.

This image speaks volumes to me. It makes me think about eating meat, and seeing the human equivalent just makes me question the ethics of it that bit more. You wouldn’t want to eat your pet on a sandwich, or in a pie, so why is it okay for any other animal? This image is strong, and powerful, with a very deep and not at all hidden message. The photographer wanted people to know exactly what he was aiming for, exactly what his message and beliefs are.