"Staying in Touch With Home, for Better or Worse": New York Times Cover Picture

Thursday, February 17, 2011's edition of the New York Times features an article on the cover called "Staying in Touch With Home, for Better or Worse". The article itself talks about soldiers abroad in countries such as Iraq and Afghanistan who are now using technology to keep in touch with their friends and family at home. In particular, soldiers are now using cell phones, the internet, and social networking sites such as Twitter, Facebook, and the like to keep in touch with their loved ones.

In my blog today, I am going to talk about the Rhetoric of the picture that is featured for the article. It was taken by Damon Winter, and features a soldier sitting at his camp, on a laptop, presumably using Facebook, Skype, or something similar. The picture conveys a very powerful message. I was able to find it on Google images.

The rhetoric of the picture is very powerful, even though the reader may not notice it at first glance. The color scheme is the most powerful rhetorical aspect of this picture. Everything in the picture is extremely dark, except for the computer and the light that is shining from it. On the actual newspaper itself, this is even more true, since the picture is in black and white. This contrast in color is portraying a powerful message. When a soldier is overseas at war, their world and feelings may seem very dark and dreary. But the point of the article, which the picture enforces, is that technology illuminates the soldier's darkness by enabling them to communicate with their loved ones at home. It is almost like the "light at the end of the tunnel". When I first picked up the New York Times today, this rhetorical strategy to convey the articles message through the picture is what stood out to me right away, and I believe that it was successfully able to accomplish its goal.