photograghs of War and Children
photograghs of a war can bear different ambiences. Thinking of a war, you are inclined to come up with cruel and woeful images. However, depending on a photogragh, you may feel ironically calm and peaceful. Here are two photograghs of Korean war. One is a picture of a korean child being searched for weapon taken by unknown AP photographer and the other is a picture of a child being helped by a soldier, which is also taken by unknown photogragher. In both photograghs depict the same war, child and soldier but the details say the two photograghs are totally differing.
In the first picture, as it you can see, a soldier is searching a children for weapon or bomb and the face of the child is dark and drab. Some may guess as if the child does not know what is happening and what a guy in front of him is doing. In fact the child does not look starving nor hurt. He looks rather intact. But he is clearly bearing a facial expression which well shows that he is unstable and fretful; furthermore he is likely to burst into tears considering his eye brows went up and he has some wrinkles on the forehead. And it is also noticeable that light is only on the child's face and on the other hand the soldier's face is shaded. It also emphasizes the ambience of the stituation, which kind of feels solemn and negative. we also can gather that the war is still going on the picture seeing that the soldier is even strict to an ingenuous young boy whose face is likely to tell us " I do not know anything ". The picture also shows that the child is not wearing any shoes and the land is rough and uneligible for a naked foot. So the overall ambience in this photogragh is fairly dark, drab, and woeful. It is bleak enough to have us think that this war is still going on and so pitiful.
The other picture which has put another child and soldier in, on the other hand, is showing the polar opposite. In comparison with the soldier in the first picture, the solider here is streching his hand to a little girl. The girl looks pretty carefree and unafraid of a tall and armed soldier. The little girl and the soldier even look heart-touching. we can't know whether the child lost her mother and received a hand of help or the soldier is holding her hand just because the land is a bit high to step up for her. But what is so obvious is that the two are making the ambience unlike a war. One more contrary to the former picture is the back drop. This picture, despite black color film, is showing, green mountains, grass, and weeds and a man looking like a farmer. The main two people and the background things are rather in harmony. The child is also wearing some shoes. Not only the child and soldier but also the accessories in this picture make the ambience of this picture quite still and much more stabilized than a usual war's. And furthermore People seeing this picture's green periphery must be able to gather that this war is already over. So the ambience in this picture is quite bright and peaceful. It evidently implies that the war is over.
Both of two photograghs of the same war show a soldier and a child. Anyone can make out what the two pictures' theme is. But as we explore the details in the two pictures, they vary in so many ways and also convey the obviously different ambience. The first one expresses drab and dark ambience with the child's unstable face and the soldier' shaded. On the other hand , the other photogragh expresses peaceful and calm ambience with the unafraid child's behavior and face. Both of the photograghs also obviously differ in the backgound. The first photogragh has no background but such a bleak land that we feel more cold and somber, whereas the other is getting along with rather green and bucolic backgounds, which have us feel warm and heart touching.
In my conclusion, as two picture each showed the different ambience and many accesssories in a uniformed theme, photograghs can vary in so many ways and depicts the same person, background and situation differently like kaleidoscope. Therefore, the photograghs enough deserve looking into more scupulously and meticulously. The real fun of photograghs comes when we not only see and recognize what the pictures' theme is but also focus on more details and think of what makes the pictures dark or bright.
http://firsttimeuser.tumblr.com/post/39573731522/unknown-ap-photographer-korean-refugee-child
https://www.pinterest.com/pin/380976449704324011/
I think you included an interesting hook for your essay in the introduction. It is concise, clear and was an attention grabber. Above all, photos that you attached at the bottom were large enough for viewers to see clearly. You stated the title of the photos appropriately in the paragraph. Your in-depth analysis along with the detailed description of the photos genuinely helped my understanding of the images. I can see that you used several similes and metaphors in illustrating the difference and the similarities of the photos. I totally agree with your evaluation of the effects of the photographs as well. Overall, I enjoyed your reaction essay, thanks for sharing!
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