Shekhar Deshpande's "The Confident Gaze"

“The Confident Gaze” is an article written by Shekhar Deshpande, were he digs into what he calls the desensitizing of front cover, inside photographs and world events covered by of the famously known National Geographic Magazine. The May 1997 issue of National Geographic covers the 50th anniversary of India’s Independence as the feature story. The cover is a photograph of a young boy covered in red which is one of the many colors that are used in the yearly spring festival Holi, which takes place either in March or April. When really observing the photo one is drawn in by the pain filled yet curious eyes of the boy. Then the question arises, did the photographer pose this boy in a way to show only what he wanted to about this boy? Deshpande puts it the best when he states, “[i]t is as if that the world needs to be posed in the appropriate way to the Western observer, he could not see it in its bare essentialities” (par 9).
For many young and old the National Geographic Magazine has been as common in the home as televisions are. In his article Deshpande explains that “Middle class parents have regarded the investment in the subscription as necessary for the exposure that the magazine gives their children about the world” (par 2). This is for many the only way to get knowledgeable about other parts of the world. Deshpande describes how even though the magazine is covering worldly events, the editors have this way of taking all the “third world” problems which make us all feel something and so we don’t get overwhelmed with reading the articles and viewing the photo’s, the editors and photographers have this way of sharing the stories without making the viewer not want to pick it up again due to all the sadness of the issues. In doing this the viewers are more apt to purchase more issues of the magazine.