In my photo, one sees that our communities have more and more litter, and we are doing nothing about it. What I was thinking while taking this shot was that all this news about plastic ruining the earth and killing many sea animals. I took this because the news became reality when I saw that there was plastic on the grass that was growing with plants right behind it. I am deeply concerned about the fact that many animals are dying, and in many places, people are unable to swim because there is so much plastic in our oceans. In this photo someone could see that the plastic and littering was ruining the community by just sitting on the grass and no one taking care of it. Another point someone could see is that there was alcohol sitting the grass just outside of a building that many kids live in, so while people see the littering, they might also see the fact that alcohol is becoming a big problem in the community. The main reason I took this photo was to show people that we need to start saving this earth and can’t let it to be taken away from us. Furthermore, I also wanted to show that alcoholism is a big problem and shouldn’t be around the youth. The government needs to create a program that ensures to keep our parks clean and safe for us and our animals. In addition, we need to find a way to keep alcohol away from youth.

Digital literacy has opened my mind by not just judging a picture when your first see it but to look further and to examine the possible views and insights of the photo. It also taught me that photos have many meanings and possible stories you don’t know about. The biggest thing it taught me was that media tries to manipulate us by trying to make us believe what the picture is trying to show. Looking past the photo and digging deeper is the only real way to find more about the issue/picture and getting the most realistic experience. The last thing that impacts photos is composition in the shot. Composition could be the message or manipulate the message as well.

I want a change in the community to reduce littering and plastic use. The government should ban single use plastic bags and eliminate anything non reusable. The community and government need to take action before our planet is all done!