“James R. Jones, grand dragon of the Ku Klux Klan, drives to a rally with his Klan robe hanging in the back seat of his car.” North Carolina, 1964 by Charles Moore
https://www.npr.org/sections/pictureshow/2010/03/charles_moore.html/
This photo depicts James R. Jones, a grand dragon of the Ku Klux Klan, driving to to a rally in his car. The picture shows his Klan robe hanging in the back of his car as he drives in North Carolina. The thing that stood out to me first, is that I glanced over this picture as a normal circumstance for a moment. All I saw was a man in his car, however, understanding the context of Charles Moore’s photos, I took a closer look. When I saw the robe and read the caption below it was quite discomforting knowing that pictures like this can come off so casual and non-threatening. James R. Jones looks like the average man just on his way to work, however this is so much heavier than that, and a lot more concerning. This photo makes me think about what came after this photo that day and how sad this part of history was for social justice in the world. I think this photo is effective because of all the exact reasons I just wrote about – it seems like a casual photo at first but pulls a viewer in after once someone understands what is actually going on. It is a well shot profile picture of the man, with light somehow perfectly gleaming across part of his face and the crest of his robe. The positioning of the robe is clear to viewers but also doesn’t seem staged or posed. The contrast of the man in his car from the bright outside world is also intriguing and keeps the theme of darkness within the picture. With that, the stillness within the car also contrasts the unfocused and moving background outside of the car, which depicts the important content of the photo even more.