Pre-Writing Assignment 1

“Striding Girl,” a photograph taken by a six year old boy involved in the Rwandan organization Through the Eyes of Children, captures a glance into the life of a Rwandan girl performing her daily regiment of chores in the aftermath of genocide. The first thing I noticed about this photo is that the cropping was peculiar in that the girl was not centered, rather she is positioned to the far left and has her back turned away from the camera, obscuring the view of her person. The position excites the viewer more since the vector of attention, being the girl, is not centered as it is typically. The placement of the prominent figure in an odd corner of a photo follows the rule of thirds; supposedly unsettling the audience, attracting more attention away from the figure and toward the background and lesser figures in the foreground. Overall, the saturation of the color of the picture is incredibly dark accentuating the poverty prevalent in Rwanda through the use of a disposable camera, being the only material available to the orphanage, stealing the photographers ability to graphically alter any aspect of the photo.

With the darkened saturation the eye is drawn toward the more flamboyant colors of the robe that the girl wears while she walks down the worn road. It can be inferred that the girl hails from the working class and the photographer illustrates her status through her arduous work while wearing what appears to be traditional African clothing which must cost more than a person living in poverty can afford. Attention in the photo is initially drawn to the striding girl, being the brightest color within the photo, but the vector of attention points in the direction of the road that the girl is walking. With a grave expression on her face, the girl walks away from the camera. The cropping of the photo leaves a gap of space in a sense narrating a small part of the girls journey, taking attention away from the items she carries atop of her head and focuses on where the girl is heading with her package. The vectors of attention cleverly divert the viewer's attention away from the first noticeable figure to where the figure ventures, telling the story of the figure within the photograph.

Shrouded in the background of the photo, there are a few scattered white building that may be assumed to be a village. The vectors of attention subtly shift from the foreground allowing the element of the village in the background to continue the story that the foreground initiated. The village in the background adds a malicious overtone to the photo, referring to the violent history surrounding Rwanda in 1994, with the hidden village and desolate condition of the road on which the girl is walking. The road has been under cared for and the hidden village hints at the fact that possibly the people living there might be trying to hide from someone. As a whole the photo illustrates the desolation and abandonment of the people of Rwanda after the genocide of a people that lost more than the people killed during the actual act; the orphaned children of Rwanda subtly capture the fear prevalent two years after the genocide in Rwanda.