The Grim Reaper by Gustave Dore and my response to it

Context:
Death is the permanent end of the life of a biological organism. Death may refer to the end of life as either an event or condition. Many factors can cause or contribute to an organism's death, including predation, disease, habitat destruction, senescence, malnutrition and accidents. The principal causes of death in developed countries are diseases related to aging.Traditions and beliefs related to death are an important part of human culture, and central to many religions. In medicine, biological details and definitions of death have become increasingly complicated as technology advances.
(Wikipedia)
Actual Meaning:
For this image i cannot find a reference to the actual meaning within this image from anywhere on the internet.
Meaning:
I think this image has several meanings within it but i think it is possible that if u were to show this image to someone else they would see a different meaning within it. the meaning i find within this image would be that the grim reaper is one of the most powerful figures within everyones life and has the power to make or break somebody else's life either by taking a loved one away or yourself.
Gustave Dore in this image has tried to show the grim reaper as a important figure in life. He has done this by sitting the grim reaper on top of the world. This image is in gray scale and contains a vast amount of of negative space within its self but this works to the images advantage because it does not need to contain much otherwise they would act more of a distraction than complement it. The idea of the grim reaper having a higher authority in the world is not the most satisfying thought although death will catch up with us all it is not something most people would want to think of.

Materials:
this image looks as if it has been created using charcoal although there is no evidence of this the lack of markings and how smooth the image appears to be tells me that it could possibly be charcoal. The use of materials used compliment the meaning well as the image relates to death and this subject is a very black and white topic to discuss.
Overall judgment on the work as a piece of communication.
I feel that this piece of work communicates death in a new light as i would never imagine the grim reaper sat on top of the world as if it was a common thing to do in life. However i do feel that this image is communicating a different perspective towards death. I find this image almost disturbing but not in a way i could describe.

Meaning:
This image is very dark with a very vibrant red to show blood. i want it to show a very different meaning to one that i have wrote about above. This image looks as if a pers on is watching what looks like mountains in the foreground. the person i have used within this image is smiling in the original photo looks very different now. I wanted to show death as if it was evil and something that you would see in a nightmare which would make it very surreal at the same time. the smile in this image makes it look as if the person is laughing with joy but at the same time it makes them look crazy and mad.

Meaning to Others:
again if i was to show this to somebody else i think they would find a different perspective within this image. i think they would see somebody been sucked in towards death and i think they would find this very surreal.
Materials:
I used photoshop to create this by using the polar co-ordinates tool which i set to rectangular to polar. I then used the curves tool and started trying out different colour ways to see which worked best. I think the image would get the point across better with text in it. Here is an example of the image with text within it. I think the message is communicated better with text in the image as it helps us to make more sense of what it is trying to communicate.
Overall judgment on the work as a piece of communication.
I think the second one helps to communicate this piece better than the first. I think this is because text helps to put the image within our minds. Although i am not sure if this depicts death as well as the image i researched earlier by Gustave Dore, I think that image communicates death better than i do because the grim reaper is a direct link to death its self.