Visual vs Symbolic Language

As we can see from the photo on the right, an elder veteran is embracing a younger veteran and it seems like an emotional embrace. The younger veteran is facing the camera but looking down with very sad eyes. The elder veteran has his back towards the camera and is embracing the younger veteran with his right hand griping the younger veteran's shoulder. Even though the younger veteran lost his left arm he is wearing an artificial limb and resting it on the elder veteran's back, and he is fulling embracing the elder veteran with his right arm with his hand on the elder veteran's back. The younger veteran is wearing a dark green uniform with red linings around his high collar and his cufflinks. He is also wearing a white officer's hat with black rims and a gold pin at the center of the hat. There are some blue and white metals on his left chest just above his white belt and a gold metal on his collar. The buttons and cufflinks are both gold and we can see he has three cufflinks on his left sleeve. There is a red and gold patch on the younger veteran's left arm shaped like a rectangle with top two corners chopped off. There are also red and gold stripes next to the younger veteran's gold cufflinks. As for the elder veteran, he is wearing a white officer's hat with lots of blue and yellow metal pins, and he is wearing a dark green uniform. There are four gold cufflinks on his right sleeve and he is wearing a yellow rubber like bracelet around his tattooed wrist. The elder veteran seems to be sobbing with his head rested on the younger veteran's chest. On the background there is a corner of the United States flag on the left corner of the picture and a little machinery that seems like a corner of a tank beneath the flag. There are three other people behind the two veterans. An army soldier wearing olive green, brown and beige camouflage uniform and a black officer's hat with a blue patch on the hat. He seems to be in his 40's and he has his hands crossed in front of his belly. The camouflage officer is standing very straight. There seems to be a women standing behind the younger and elder veterans. All we can see is her middle length blond hair and she seems to be wearing a black jacket. There is another elder officer standing behind the embracing veterans. He appears to be in his 60's and he is wearing a blue officer's hat with yellow cords around it. This officer is wearing thick glasses with a metal frame. He is also wearing a dark green uniform jacket with a white dress shirt and a navy blue necktie. There is a gold and red metal pined on his necktie. He also seems to be wearing artificial limbs but it is very hard to see due to the angle. The look on this officer is very emotional. All people in this picture seem to be Caucasian and the background wall is sand beige and there seems to be an extruding black window on the top overlooking these people.   


List of Words
- emotional
- solemn
- proud
- formal
- overwhelming
- touching
- serious
- heavy


Symbols
metals = status/rank
artificial arm = injury
standing still = ceremony 
flag = patriotic 
camouflage = combat/conceal
tattoo = stamp/mark/memory
suits = formal
black suit = formal
tank = military base

The two embracing veterans are the focal point of the scene due to its size. The camera is shooting the veterans from a lower angle expressing greatness and bravery. The people in the background are standing still and looking at a far distance suggesting they are participating in a ceremony. The flag, tank, and their emotional faces lead me to believe that this is a solemn military ceremony.