“We Are Your Children” sign, San Francisco Gay Freedom Day pride parade, June 25, 1978
This image combines content and composition to create a visual that is haunting, powerful, and triumphant in equal measure. The young man in the picture was a participant in the San Francisco pride parade on Gay Freedom Day, June 25, 1978. The sign he is carrying—“We are your children”—is particularly striking. Its silent implication is that he, in addition to millions more, has had to face one of the more difficult rejections in life: that of one’s own parents. Even if not literally, he has had to face a society which failed its basic (even parental) obligation to take care of all its citizens. Yet his face holds a hint of a smile as he campaigns for a better world. He is taking hold of his identity publicly, perhaps for the first time in his young life. This photograph is an affirmation that his experiences are real and valid. There’s undeniable power in that.
The chosen composition of the photograph serves to amplify these effects. The pink balloon, towards the middle of the image, is part of that haunting nature. It is being d by a little girl; the marchers are fighting for a world she will inherit. There’s something deeply symbolic in the particular color she wields, as well. Pink may be representative of unconditional love or innocence, both of which are possessed in spades by small children. The child is literally holding onto these traits. But, of course, adults don’t always carry that torch - the precise injustice making such marches necessary in the first place. This, along with the general vibrance of the imagery—matching that of its young subjects—could only have been accomplished through color photography, and as such the photograph also acts as a refutation to anyone who would deem that practice inferior.
The chosen composition of the photograph serves to amplify these effects. The pink balloon, towards the middle of the image, is part of that haunting nature. It is being d by a little girl; the marchers are fighting for a world she will inherit. There’s something deeply symbolic in the particular color she wields, as well. Pink may be representative of unconditional love or innocence, both of which are possessed in spades by small children. The child is literally holding onto these traits. But, of course, adults don’t always carry that torch - the precise injustice making such marches necessary in the first place. This, along with the general vibrance of the imagery—matching that of its young subjects—could only have been accomplished through color photography, and as such the photograph also acts as a refutation to anyone who would deem that practice inferior.