The image I selected for this assignment stood out to me in many ways. There are innocent and young children staring at a cartoon painting of war. The contrast between innocence and darkness is what stood out to me and made me decide to do my assignment on this particular photograph.
This photograph was taken in 1939 and at an art exhibit that was being funded by the Federal Arts Project. The arts were something that was used in order to lift the spirits of many Americans during the great depression. World War II broke out in 1939 and to see a painting of cartoon war being placed in a children’s art exhibit was interesting. The kids faces in the photograph don’t look upset but actually happy. I’m unsure if they know what war exactly entails but I wonder, were people happy about going to war? Was it something to focus on instead of the depression? 
The glitched version of the original image is interesting because it takes the harshness out of the painting of war. Adding the color back into the image makes the innocence of the children come through and the word “war” is barely visible. Being able to glitch the image is an example of how we can manipulate it. This makes us able to “… pivot and change our perspective on it. Doing so can help us see things differently”. This image turns more cartoon like instead of serious which I think takes away from the meaning of the piece. I think the author Sol Horn was intending to have the contrast between kids and war stand out.
This may be a far fetched idea but when looking at both the original image and glitched image the one feeling I do not feel was intended was panic. Panic was one of the reasons the country fell into the Great Depression and my thought is that maybe the idea of having the painting in a cartoon format and around kids is to make it not seem as serious. By desensitizing people to the idea of war might cause Americans not to go into a panic again.
Archives of American Art – Children’s art exhibition sponsored by the Federal Art Project – 12271.jpg. (2018, March 25). Wikimedia Commons, the free media repository. Retrieved 14:49, October 9, 2019 from https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Archives_of_American_Art_-_Children%27s_art_exhibition_sponsored_by_the_Federal_Art_Project_-_12271.jpg&oldid=293691781.
http://jessicadoeshistory.com/cnd/items/show/18
http://jessicadoeshistory.com/cnd/exhibits/show/shannon-mulligan–children-s-a
