What makes so serious in the former picture whereas the latter shows full of emotions? The former picture is "Village School" taken by Margaret Bourke-White, who took photos of kids on school in Russia. And the latter is "Children's Puppet Theatre, Paris 1963" by Alfred Eisenstadt. It seems like the children are in the similar age bracket of 6-8, but they seem to express totally different emotions.
In the first image of "Village School", children seem to be focused on the photographer himself, Bourke-White. The all-male children are staring at the photographer, some are expressing anger, and some are very scared and nervous. Some children are paying attention to another person besides the photographer, who may be the teacher stood in front of them. The overall mood of the children seems so serious that it is hard to interrupt the mood by any individual. In addition, the dark and light contrast of the photograph seems to emphasize the general gravity of the photo. The white heads of the children seem to put more focus on the looks and emotions of the children instead of any other details within the photograph. Most of the kids are looking hopeless and very serious as if they were in a very totalitarian society. However one child in the front has a different facial expression, which shows a sense of hope. It seems as if the kid needs help and salvage from any poor conditions of its society. The wooden chairs of the class remind me of a church that was made in the 18th century in the US by the Puritans. The facility is very old-fashioned and primeval, and the kids stood very straight on their chairs, that seemed to be severely disciplined by the dictating teacher.
However in the second image of "Children's Puppet Theatre, Paris 1963" the photo seems to show much active and lively emotion. The kids are bunched around in the foreground and they seemed to be enjoying the puppet show played in front of them. It seems as the show is reaching its climax, and the children seem to vary in their emotions. A male child on the left is showing emotions of fear, with his hand covering his ears for prevention of any dreadful moment. Two children in the center seem to be twins that show identical facial features and emotional expressions of joy who open their mouths greatly. The only difference is that they are of difference sexes, which may be suggested that they are hetero-ovular twins. On the right side, the two children seem to be siblings with the girl being the elderly and the boy being the younger one. The girl holds onto the boy and seems to be confused by the scene in the puppet show. On the other hand, the boy seems to be frightened by the scene and tries to rely onto his sister. In the background, children and some adults show various emotions, but most of them are elated and joyous, and seem to enjoy the show. In comparison to the first picture, they seem to be more active and involved.
To conclude, the first and second picture shows a totally different level of emotion. In the first picture the atmosphere seems to be very serious and frightful, with most of the children seem to be disciplined severely by a very ruthless teacher. On the other hand, the second picture seems to show emotions free of will that a normal child expresses. In a way, the children in the first picture express artificial emotions that are constructed by some ruling authority, whereas the second picture doesn't force any child to do so. It is hard to say which is right or wrong, but it seems as if the second picture looks more childlike and shows aspects of freedom.
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