Tensions Rising

What this newswire photo well captures in the face of Jeff Griesmer, an unemployed software programmer at a ‘Michigan Works’ job fair in Wayne last week, is how strained, frustrated and angry people are becoming over the economic rout brought on by the banking crisis.

I realize this is a gross generalization and I’m sure exceptions are to be found. Still, I’m finding the visual media more comfortable portraying people as victimized and upset (in a sorrowful way) than aggrieved, stressed and pissed off. I was also drawn to the expressions of the workers on the left, very direct, calm, a bit detached and matter-of-fact. Not an easy position to be in either.

(image: Rebecca Cook/Reuters. March 11, 2009)