Interesting political montage here, and interesting commentary below. I like how the bits are put together, and I'm assuming the red vs. blue tones were intentional, though I'm not sure about the upper-right crop of what appears to be a WW2 German officer? Interesting, makes one pause and reflect on what's presented here!
Franky2005
24-Apr-2006 11:25
It is always hard to predict a reaction to a picture I think. Especially if there is more then a visual effect behind. It depends on many things, in this case on the information level and the stand point of the observer mainly.
Just to highlight what I saw and I still can be pretty wrong:
From left to right
- People trying to escape from East Berlin at the time the wall is beeing build up
- Kennedy as he is perceived as the protector of West-Berlin
- The medal of the communist East Germany is in the middle (at this point many people may struggle with the representation of Germany, especially if they are from the "west")
- Khurshev as Kenndy's counterpart (red & evil)
- a soldier (possibly East German)
The way I see it was that Germany was just a vehicle right in the middle between the forces. We are over it and it is history luckily.
I guess it is hard to get any warm and enthusiastic reaction on such a montage. In this way my way to appreciate it was to say it is interesting, but I must say that I was not born at that time. Any stronger reaction I would only provide on current politics ... :-)
Guest
23-Apr-2006 23:22
Nikita Sergeyevich Khurshev and John Fitzgerald Kennedy and the communist medal, that picture is representing for me a classical image of the cold war.
I always thought that I managed to create a pretty neat image, reflecting the cold war, the Berlin crisis and the past. However, people that looked at that image had different reactions and maybe they did not fully understand the image; not necessarily did they hate the image but definitely had mixed reactions about it.
Franky2005
23-Apr-2006 21:53
Looks like a lesson in German history and the Cold War. The Eastern German medal, Kennedy in blue, Khrushchev (?) in red and all in a context that hints to the divided Berlin. Interesting stuff!
