The Eyes Have It

806 Words2 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: researches on women in afghanistan

The Eyes Have It

I chose to write about a picture, and the particular picture that I chose to write about was of a young woman from Afghanistan, who was estimated to be the age of twelve. The photograph became famous after it graced the cover of the June 1985 National Geographic.

The young woman was beautiful beyond any words, let alone mine. She had long, dark hair and tanned skin. Her face, to me, was a dichotomy between rough features, exposed to the ravages of poverty and war, yet with a soft beauty underneath. She had well-defined cheekbones, and a pronounced chin. Her head was covered by a red burka, which further brought out the green and gold within her eyes.

They say that the eyes are the window of the soul. I do not believe that, but I do believe that her eyes have seen things which would test the souls of the most worldly of people. Her eyes burnt defiantly, with a fiery glint that seemed to bore through any person who looked into them. Her eyes are what everyone seemed to notice the most of all. Like a cat, they seemed to focus the light around her, and took on an almost supernatural presence. She had all the allure of a supermodel, or a sultry silver screen siren. She wore a countenance of defiance. It isn’t immediately clear why she was angry… but most would assume that she was angry about her life and upbringing. In actuality, she was also angry at being photographed. It was one of those great moments in photographic history. Whether it’s a sailor kissing a random nurse on VJ Day, or a fireman pulling a baby from the rubble of the Oklahoma City bombing, or a Veitnamese citizen being executed by an American soldier, there are some photographs that take on both a life and a symbolism of their own.

This p...

... middle of paper ...

... background, it allows a person to fill in their own blanks about where she is from. And by sticking to her face, and not a whole body shot, it puts a face on the cause itself.

Years later, the original photographer went back to Afghanistan to find this woman. It’s a miracle that she was found. Afghanistan has few roads and phones, and she lived in a remote region, far removed from what would pass as “civilization” in Afghanistan. It’s amazing that she even survived over the years, but survive she did. Years of hard living eroded her natural beauty, and her features grew coarse. She’s now a simple, uneducated wife, who covers herself before all except her husband. But she allowed one more photograph to be taken of herself, and while her eyes look somewhat duller, they’re still the unmistakably brilliant eyes that captured a world’s attention some two decades ago.

Show More
Related

  • A Thousand Splendid Suns

    1242 Words  | 3 Pages

    In a nation brimming with discrimination, violence and fear, a multitudinous number of hearts will become malevolent and unemotional. However, people will rebel. In the eye-opening novel, A Thousand Splendid Suns written by Khaled Hosseini, the country of Afghanistan is exposed to possess cruel, treacherous and sexist law and people. The women are classified as something lower than human, and men have the jurisdiction over the women. At the same time, the most horrible treatment can bring out some of the best traits in victims, such as consideration, boldness, and protectiveness. Although, living in an inconsiderate world, women can still carry aspiration and benevolence. Mariam and Laila (the main characters of A Thousand Splendid Suns) are able to retain their consideration, boldness and protectiveness, as sufferers in their atrocious world.

    Read More

  • Of John Taylor Gatto's Idiot Nation And Against School By Michael Moore

    865 Words  | 2 Pages

    When analyzing the arguments of both Michael Moore’s “Idiot Nation” and John Taylor Gatto’s “Against School”, their most distinct aspect is the tone in which their arguments are presented. Moore’s informal writing invokes a reaction within the reader. He capitalizes entire sentences to make them appear louder and draw attention. How can referring to a president as an “Idiot-in-Chief” not elicit a certain emotion within the reader? Moore is a well-known activist who is quite aware of popularity and infamy. His words are not an attempt to persuade dissenters to his side, but rather to appeal to the emotions of his supporters and drive them to action. Whereas Gatto writes in a formal but understandable language that appeals to the intelligence of parents and children alike regardless of their view of public education. It is notably free of exclamation marks as well as the jargon associated with educators. The voice used plays a key role in the techniques and tools each arguer uses to convince their intended audience to take action.

    Read More

  • The Lewis and Clark Expedition: Sacagawea

    1235 Words  | 3 Pages

    In the spring of 1805 the Lewis and Clark expedition decides to take off. But on there way a sudden storm approaches and n...

    Read More

  • Unseen Realities: Sewage Work and Health Risks

    518 Words  | 2 Pages

    Having such an image before our eyes, often we fail to recognize the message it is trying to display from a certain point of view. Through Clark’s statement, it is evident that a photograph holds a graphic message, which mirrors the representation of our way of thinking with the world sights, which therefore engages other

    Read More

  • Arguments from Democracy Left Behind: NCLB and Civic Education

    530 Words  | 2 Pages

    According to the speakers in the film, the purpose of education is to have a well-informed public that can be active members of society and participate in the democratic process. The main priority of many schools thoughtout the United States is to teach to the standard tests and to concentrate heavily on language arts and mathematics. Many of the teachers in this film believe that the focus should be more balanced and should have more focus on civic education and having a more informed student. These teachers believe starting as early as kindergarten and integrating civic education into every subject in school.

    Read More

  • Roger Ballen: Darkness in Photography

    1212 Words  | 3 Pages

    As stated by Judith Butler, the view of Susan Sontag, visible throughout her texts claiming that the photograph can’t reflect clarification by itself, would be senseless. She indicates that we require captions and written examination to support the diverse imagery in particular. According to her, the image can solely influence us, yet not grant us the comprehension of what we perceive. (Butler 2009: 63)

    Read More

  • Eye of the beholder

    374 Words  | 1 Pages

    ?Beauty is in the eye of the beholder? is one of the most commonly known proverbs. In the Twilight Zone?s short film, ?Eye of the Beholder? that same proverb is used as a metaphor to demonstrate how beauty and acceptance are illustrated in the real world. The film tells the story of a woman whose hideously deformed face has made her an outcast all of her life. Now she faces her nearly a dozen and final operation for a last chance to look normal with the help of unseen surgeons.

    Read More

  • Julia Margaret Cameron

    490 Words  | 1 Pages

    Julia Margaret made it her duty to show her subjects in the light of their potential immorality and it shows beautifully in her work.Julia Margaret Cameron was an English woman with a remarkable talent for photography and who created brilliant photographs that captured moments of emotional intensity. She rejected the meticulously observed and highly defined detail of the artisan photographers, yet there was nothing eccentric or amateur in her approach.

    Read More

  • Symbolism Of Eyes In Flannery O Connor's Works

    1244 Words  | 3 Pages

    Eyes in “The Displaced Person” tend to be illustrated with violent terms. The eyes are harsh and very rarely are they described softly; Mrs. McIntyre has eyes like “steel or granite,” characters’ gazes often “pierce,” and “icy blue eyes” and other similar descriptions are common.

    Read More

  • A Thousand Splendid Suns Analysis

    791 Words  | 2 Pages

    Women are often portrayed in stories and tales as the Damsel in Distress. We are the ones waiting in our flowing gowns for the knight to come and carry us away on the back of his white horse. In a Thousand Splendid Suns it is the women who are the warrior princesses, the ones enduring so much. It is the strength of a woman and how they deal with the human capacity for evil that jumps out as the themes of this story. A Thousand Splendid Suns shows the perspective of two women, in which they live their lives both very differently but both show the inner strength of being a woman. It is most definitely not the easiest task of being a woman in Afghanistan, where men have so much power and authority. Both these women stories’ are being told during three decades of anti-Soviet jihad, civil war and Taliban tyranny. Mariam and Laila become allies in a battle with their brutal husband, many miscarriages, mothering a daughter where women are not welcomed, dealing with many deaths of loved ones and somehow showing the resilience of being a woman.

    Read More

  • Female Gender Roles in Haggard’s She and Haddawy’s The Arabian Nights

    1317 Words  | 3 Pages

    In the novel She and in the stories of The Arabian Nights, both Haggard and Haddawy explore the expanding gender roles of women within the nineteenth century. At a time that focused on the New Woman Question, traditional gender roles were shifted to produce greater rights and responsibilities for women. Both Ayesha, from Haggard’s novel She, and Shahrazad, from Haddawy’s translation of The Arabian Nights, transgress the traditional roles of women as they are being portrayed as strong and educated females, unwilling to yield to men’s commands. While She (Ayesha) takes her power to the extreme (i.e. embodying the femme fatale), Shahrazad offers a counterpart to She (i.e. she is strong yet selfless and concerned with the welfare of others). Thus, from the two characters emerge the idea of a woman who does not abide by the constraints of nineteenth century gender roles and, instead, symbolizes the New Woman.

    Read More

  • Analysis of Anne Moody's Coming of Age in Mississippi

    1206 Words  | 3 Pages

    ...nspired to make a change that she knew that nothing could stop her, not even her family. In a way, she seemed to want to prove that she could rise above the rest. She refused to let fear eat at her and inflict in her the weakness that poisoned her family. As a child she was a witness to too much violence and pain and much too often she could feel the hopelessness that many African Americans felt. She was set in her beliefs to make choices freely and help others like herself do so as well.

    Read More

  • Yousuf Karsh

    1160 Words  | 3 Pages

    One of the greatest portrait photographers of all time Yousuf karsh (1908-2002) captured not only the images of hundreds of the 20th century’s most memorable leaders and celebrities but also the faces of thousands of ordinary men and women whose lives formed the backbone of Canadian society. Karsh has taken photographs that tell a story, and that are more easily understood than many others. Each of his portraits tells you all about the subject. He felt as though there was a secret hidden behind each woman and man he photographed. Whether he captured a gleaming eye or a gesture done totally unconsciously, Karsh portraits communicate with people. Yousuf Karsh, who died at the age of 93 in July of 2002, left a priceless legacy to Canada-his adopted homeland for nearly almost eight decades. Before his death, Karsh sold or donated all of his 355,000 photos to Canada’s National Archives in Ottawa. Many of his portraits are now considered to be some of the best masterpieces in the history of photography.

    Read More

  • Essay On Annie Leibovitz

    1242 Words  | 3 Pages

    Annie was born in Waterbury, Connecticut and spent most of her childhood in military bases, because her father had a career as an officer in the AIR FORCE. Growing up one of six, her father was circulating everywhere. Annie’s mother, was a stay at home mom, a wife, and a teacher. If she ever talked clamorously or if she was eager, she claimed it was because of her extensive and uproarious family foundation. She took classes at night to study the art of painting at the San Francisco Art Institute. In 1970, her distinctive portraits started showing in Rolling Stone magazine, and have been ever since (“Annie Leibovitz a photographers life1990-2005”). Annie Leibovitz is one of Americas’ most well known celebrity portrait photographer for her work in Rolling Stone magazine and her work in Vanity Fair.

    Read More

  • Photojournalism Essay

    719 Words  | 2 Pages

    Photojournalism plays a critical role in the way we capture and understand the reality of a particular moment in time. As a way of documenting history, the ability to create meaning through images contributes to a transparent media through exacting the truth of a moment. By capturing the surreal world and presenting it in a narrative that is relatable to its audience, allows the image to create a fair and accurate representation of reality.

    Read More

More about The Eyes Have It

Open Document