Motherhood

Photographer : Mohammed Al-Sawaf - Iraq

It seems that all children, no matter where they live or who their family may be, have a strong sense of curiosity. In this photo, it is through the eyes of the child, the movement of his face, his mouth, and his nose, that the audience observes how the child is eagerly peeping outside of the Abaya (the woman's black cloak) to learn what is happening. Although half of his face is showing, and the other half is cropped by the scarf, the child's face is still beautiful and full of inquisitive expression.

Traditionally, elderly Iraqi ladies living in rural areas of the Middle East wear abayas to cover the whole body with the exception of the face and the palms. So, in this case the black color is not a symbol of sadness or death, but is rather a symbol of decency among the older people. 

The love and passion that this woman possesses for the boy is represented in her aims to keep him close to her under her abaya. She worries for him. The protective covering shelters him from the heat of the sun, the chill of a cold night's wind, or the envy from the eyes of strangers. There is a longstanding myth among older women in Iraq that a child under the age of one year should be far from the eyes of strangers. This shared belief may be related to the idea of the evil eye, a popular superstition in many cultures, includingTurkey.  

The old woman is looking elsewhere. It seems she is either pensive and preoccupied with something, or she is too shy to look at the camera. However, the innocent young boy has no experience and is just now starting to explore and wonder about the world around him.  

Although the dominant colors in this photo are black and white, the light that is emphasized on the two faces make this photo very beautiful.  

This young boy, and many boys like him, is very fortunate to have a grandmother as their main caregiver who can share her stories, her culture, and her traditions.

This photo has emotional intimacy because it reminds me of my grandmother and how she used to care for my siblings and me. 

It is very obvious that there are a lot of wrinkles in the woman face, but still beautiful? Yes, it is believed that wrinkles are a sign of wisdom, which is beauty in of itself.

The Tannoor

Iraqi children look at a U.S. Army soldier during a routine patrol in

  Baghdad, Iraq, Sunday, June 28, 2009. (AP Photo  Hadi Mizban)

In the Middle Eastern Arab countries, the Iraqi bread is very popular in its taste that is indescribable. When I first saw this photo, I remembered the bread my mother used to make each morning before dawn for the whole family.

The tannoor, or clay oven where the famous Iraqi bread is made, symbolizes the continuity of life in Iraq despite the war and destruction.

The six young boys standing with hands empty around the tannor, looking and thinking deeply at the armed soldier. It seems these children do not fear the soldier and are waiting for his reaction as the soldier approaches them. In their eyes, I see they have many questions and are angry at the situation. Through their facial expression, it is as if they are asking: "what do you want and why are you here?"

I am certain that the majority of these children have parents or family members that have been killed or taken as prisoners during the war. It would not be a surprise if all these boys are from the same family or extended family.

It is very noticeable the boy in the back hid his hands behind. This makes me wonder what he has in his hands. Does he have a rock to throw at the soldier or an object to make the soldier go away? I am not sure, but I predict this because I have witnessed a similar scene in front of my eyes in Iraq where young children like these through rocks and bricks at the soldiers. Unfortunately to see young boys involve in the bloody conflict, children at this age should not be a part of this violence. They should be in school getting their education. But where is education in such an environment?

The blurry focus of the soldier shows that these soldiers are all over the country and all look alike. Their emotions and feelings do not matter when they are dressed in this uniform. Therefore, we did not need to see his face or the rest of his body. We can also see that the situation in Iraq is still not clear and there is no end in sight.

The background is also blurred, not by the camera, but by the nature of the filthy air as a result of the violence and war. The weather of Iraq after the war has become very hot and unbearable in addition to 24/7 no electricity. There have been sand storms, humidity that changed the atmosphere and even the people personality. They made Iraq like a desert. Even the color green, which is a symbol of life, has disappeared.

The trees and plants are just colorless objects lying here and there. The color of the ground, the tannoor, the trees, the soldier, all have the same dull colors. It seems as though the war has militarizes the whole land of Mesopotamian, which was known as a land of peace and cradle of civilizations.

The composition of this photo is very good as it describes in the necessary details and the purpose of this shot.
Obviously, there is an abundance of emotions through the faces of the children.
I try my best to avoid photos about Iraq because they remind me of days that I am hardly trying to forget. Each time I search for a photo with a glimpse of hope, I only find photos of war and suffrage.

Siesta

                                 Photographer: Sudipto Das (From India)


This photo grabbed my attention and made me feel happy and serene because it reminded me of myself when I was a kid but in a different scenario. I felt that it showed companionship between the dog and the boy.
There is intimacy with this photo where the photographer was able to capture the moment where both, the dog and the young boy were asleep. I also feel an emotional intimacy through this photo. When I look at the subject of this photo, I remember my childhood years. It is as if I am the one in the photo.

When I was a child, I had a rooster that I played with in the garden. I always got myself dirty. Several times, my mother would come out to the garden and find that I have played with the rooster for a long time and got myself dirty and tired that I slept in the garden. Now, my nephew is 4 years old living in Iraq. His family gave him a bunny rabbit as a gift. My nephew always plays with the rabbit in the garden and gets tired and sleeps there. When my brother sees this scene, he laughs and says that he is just like his uncle, Amir.

This photo has two meanings. One is that the young boy was playing with the dog outside the rooms of his house but at the entrance or doorway of the house. In some cultures, families do not allow dogs and animals to enter the rooms. That is why the young boy would rather play and sleep beside his dog outside for an afternoon as part of the loyalty, love, and trust the two have for each other.

The second interpreting for this photo that crossed my mind as soon as I looked at it was the lock at the door. It seems that the young boy and the dog were outside the house playing. When they came back from the farm or orchard they found the outside door locked. It also seems that the rest of the family is outside the house; either at work, or out somewhere. The young boy and the dog sat at the doorsteps waiting for their family. They waited for a while until the boy felt sleepy. He slept feeling safe and secures that his friend the dog will protect him and be at his side.
 Of course, the boy started by dozing off as he was sitting on the doorsteps. Slowly, he felt that he needed to spread his legs and feel comfortable. He was hoping to find some people close by to open the door for him. But suddenly he dozed to a deep sleep. It also seems that the dog was tired and wanted to rest as well. Through this second meaning, I feel it was not the boy's choice to sleep with the dog outside; rather it was the fact that there was no one there to open the door for him.

This child is not from a poor family. Although his clothes are dirty, but that is the reality of the people of the small villages. The children always play in the gardens and among the animals and the families are always busy. In general, the environments in rural towns are different from the atmosphere in the urban cities.

A while back, I visited the Amish farm near Columbia, MO. I found the children to be in the same shape as this child in this photo: dirty clothes, bare feet, among the animals, and in the gardens or farms.
I do not know how long the young boy will wait outside his home until someone comes and opens the door for him. However, at the end of the day, he is happy and relaxed with the dog and with what he has done so far in his day.

There is a similarity between the boy's t-shirt and the colors of the photo and between the lines on the door and the color of the dog and the ground. In spite of the fact that the boy and the dog are asleep; the color green gives them the symbolism of life and beauty.

I believe that cropping was done in a nice way because every part of the photo has a deep meaning.
The movement of the boy's hands, legs and fingers are very calm and peaceful, as if he was placed on the steps in this position without much thought. This photo could be considered as part of the Innocence-Harmony type of photos through the composition and the layout. Happiness, comfort, security, and innocence are evident through the faces of both the young boy and the dog.

The Heart Of Sea

                                       

          Photographer : Somenath MukhopadhyayL- India

In this photo, I see myself is very attracted to the green color and its elements.

The beauty of this photo captures my attention by its color and the apple or heart shape that is made by the net.

The subject of this photo is the life which is shown through the water, the green color, and the power of energy with the fisherman.

This fisherman is fishing as well as making a living off of what is captured by the fishing net. This shows the struggle for life. It reminds me with an old novel I have read it long time ago called " The old man and the see” written by Ernest Hemingway. It is clear how much energy, power, strong muscles, patience and will.

Both the fishing boat and the fishing net sit on intersection points which give it an interesting composition; hence the rule of thirds.

The continuity of pulling the thread by the fisherman in this photo gives a nice shape of an apple or a heart and there is a deceiving moment because the fisherman and the viewer are looking at the net waiting for the result of the catch. The fisherman's face, the other man's face, and the viewer are both waiting to see what suppose to come up with the net. Is it a going to be a good hunt? Everyone is waiting for big surprise.

The angle that this photo was taken shows the photographer was most probably on a high elevation such as a cliff or even a helicopter. The angle, composition, and color are all of cleanliness and purity. The symbolism of power and energy is present through this photo by the muscles and powerful waves caused by the pulling the net.

This photo keeps the viewer confused and wondering what the fisherman will catch. It is purely simple with a dose of fascination and that is what keeps the viewer searching for more definitions. Looking at this photo, one could tell that in less than a second, the photo would be totally different with many different meanings and definitions.

Shyness

                                       Photographer : Alin Petrus 

The idea of the picture is very beautiful and very new to me. A touch of shyness is represented in the picture. At the beginning, the little girl grabbed my attention but then the continuity of her arm with the flower connecting to the shadow of the boy moved my eye through out the photo. 

The shapes of their arms each make triangular shapes and geometric forms are represented throughout the photo with the brick background and the shapes of the bodies. There is the rule of thirds represented in this photo through the wall where it has thick and thin lines. The shadow shows the contrast between the light and dark colors in the photo.  

Texture is very clear in this photo through the formation of the wall and how it is not fully complete. Texture is also shown due to the fact that some shadows are formed by the cracks and lines in the wall. More texture in the pants of the little girl as it is similar in form as the red rose she is holding. The girl is obviously standing in front of the wall and creating a shadow and therefore there is a form of layering with this figure.  

Continuity in the lines of the wall gives the picture endless meanings and observations as it does not end abruptly within the boundaries of the photo. The shadow of the little boy shows some characteristics of how the boy behaved when he was offered a flower from afar. By having his arm on his hip shows that he is very confident in himself and is looking at the flower and the girl at the same time. He is confident that he will receive the flower as well as be able to see the girl of his dreams. The girl also seems that she is looking at the flower as well as the boy but she is not as confident as the boy. She shows some shyness as she fiddles with her right arm and does not know where to put it.  

From the shadow figure and the scale of the viewer’s eyes, one could predict that the boy is of the same age or a few years older. The figure of this photo that grabbed my eyes first was the shadow of the little boy. The color of the shadow is very strong as compared to the rest of the colors in the photo. The second place I looked at was the red rose as it was connected to the shadow. However the red rose did not grab my attention first because it had the same tone or shade of colors as the rest of the photo.  

In the mirror of time

                                 Photographer :  Herman Cater

This photo shares the power of memory and brings the past memories to life as we live reality today. The man is looking through a mirror at himself and at his wedding picture of him and his wife when they were younger.  He has a face of sorrow, regret, and a feeling of failure as he is now alone looking at himself and remembering the good times by looking at a small photo.There is nothing else showing through the mirror and therefore he has no other memories that would give him a smile on his face. The only memory gives him a feeling of distress and failure because he is alone and has ended up with nothing in his hands.

The figure in this photo is the man, and more specifically, his troublesome and sad eyes.  The eyes are as if they are looking at you but they are actually looking at the picture on the wall with a feeling of grief.  One could see the picture on the wall and the direction of the eyes and feel deceived because it is unclear whether the man is looking at the viewer or the picture. 

This picture also has some symbolism connecting the past with the present by showing the man today as an older less fortunate man and the same man when he was younger with his wife on his wedding day.  It symbolizes the connection between the past and the present and how we can escape neither the past nor the present no matter how hard one may be.  

Proximity is evident through the use of two eras in one photo.  The man today is related to the man in the wedding picture however they are not related in how they feel at the moment.  The man in the picture was not alone but the man today is alone and has a very depressed look.  The man in the picture is in a tuxedo and dressed nicely with a woman next to him who is also dressed nicely, but the man today is dressed in rags and not in a good shape.

The colors used in this picture depict the deep gloominess this man is in at the moment.  One could see that in the man of today, however, in the man of yesterday, the one in the wedding picture, one could see a brighter white than the rest of the picture. In the Middle Eastern culture, the darker colors, especially black and gray are used for sad and depressing moments. 

The framing used in the original photo and the wedding photo are different. The wedding photo has a real frame with some style to it to match the occasion. That shows that probably, at the time, the couples were well off and were happy and comfortable with each other and with their lives. This is of the past. However, the present photo of the man looking at himself through the mirror shows the opposite lifestyle. The mirror looks like it is a makeshift mirror and not of the kind that would show the whole picture very clearly. It is important to realize that difference between the present man and the one from the past. The mirror is a (frame) and a window into the past and the frame to the photo in the present.

Footballers

Photographer: Prateek Dubey This photo caught my attention because it contains two figures. The first one is for the viewers, the boys in the photo is the figure. But, the second figure is not for the viewers, but for the boys (in the photo).Their figure is the ball. This photo has a lot of magnificent views and beautiful moments. The happiness among the boys, the fun, and determination to continue to playing till the end. All these elements have been reflected in the photo. There is an enthusiasm mixed with the smiles is pushing everyone to catch the ball, in spite of the muddy area.  Sometimes I see a serious moment with irresponsible moments among the youth.   There is a clear similarity among the boys; their movements, their hand and leg shapes, their facial expressions, their wet clothes, their hair, and their muscles. Everything in the picture is moving and has a continuity, except the ball, it is  the only one that is static and quiet, it is looking and waiting for them to come and get it. It seems the boys are not the only ones who are playing in this photo, even the birds (hawks) in the sky are playing in the air. It is very obvious that the sky was raining and had stopped, so, it is the time for hawks to look for something to prey on. I like the  two minarets in the back of the photo.  They look the same. Also, the color of the building looks wet and muddy. This photo brought me back to my childhood years in Iraq when I used to playing outside with my friends. We usually were playing till the sun was setting and the moon was starting to shine. One could only look at these beautiful scenes and revive old memories and relive the best moments of one’s life. It can be difficult to return those beautiful moments, but its gorgeous memory is still living in our imagination.