Description of picture CCTV

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        The picture shows a graffiti by an anonymous artist called Banksy. The work of art is called “One Nation under CCTV” and it was made in 2008.

In the middle of the photo, we can see a child who's putting some graffiti up that says “One nation under CCTV”. On the left, there is a police officer with a dog who looks the child. The graffiti was painted on a wall in London. That’s why, on the right, we can see a real camera (CCTV). In United Kingdom, to paint graffiti on a wall is a crime but Banksy wants to denounce large-scales surveillance. He warns us against the danger of surveillance society in which everybody is constantly spied upon. For that, he refers to a sentence from the Pledge of Allegiance that American children say in school every morning before classes start. The oath says “One nation under God”. So we can suppose that Banksy wanted to compare the CCTV to God because the both can keep an eye on our actions and monitor everything we do and that we behave correctly. Banksy gives a critical interpretation of many of the things that we just accept as normal in our daily lives. Indeed, the slogan suggests submission and obedience so it means that people accept to lose part of their freedom!

This is the reason why we can connect the notion of forms and place of power with CCTV because it represents the surveillance power that is increasing by new technologies. The graffiti of Banksy conveys the impression that CCTV is a bad thing.

Nevertheless, CCTV can have advantages : protect the citizens from crime, reduces crime rate, deters criminals from misbehaving and easily identify suspects.

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