Bryan Haines

Professor Padgett
ENGL 101
14 October 2015
Hope in the Eyes of Youth
For millennia war has drastically impacted countless amounts of innocent people
forced to deal violent confrontations occurring on their homeland. Instances of war can
leave areas known once for housing thriving communities and beautiful scenery as
burning piles of rubble, ridden of life. This type of destruction can be traumatic for even
the most mentally and emotionally stable of individuals. Children are especially
vulnerable to the immense trauma caused by war because their feeble brains are still
developing and trying to understand just what the world is. Children in war-stricken areas
bear the brunt of physical damage caused to their homes or loved ones and the emotional
trauma that follows this violence even though they took no part in causing the conflict
themselves. Times of war strip young people of valuable parts of their precious
childhood that most people take for granted. Childhood is supposed to be a time of
learning, loving and experiencing the world for the first time in an environment where
one can feel safe and secure. This however, is not the case for children living in times and
places of war. That being said, war cannot however take away the entirety of ones
childhood. Children will always want to play with each other and have a good time
whenever they can. War provokes both tragic and inspiring emotions in human beings
and Huffington Posts article proves that there will always be hope in children even in
times of violence and war.

One image portrays three young children, each no more than four years old,
mounting a carousel that is surrounded by rubble. This image took place in the largest
city in Syria, Aleppo. Syria has been struggling with major conflicts within itself for
years now. The government is corrupt and their president Bashar Al-Assad even began to
use chemical weapons on his own civilians when rebel groups began to emerge and
challenge his cruel leadership. This Syrian civil war has left the major city of Aleppo
destroyed and thousands left wondering what they did to deserve to live in such a violent
place. With the city in such miserable condition after the numerous attacks by the Syrian
government and rebels alike, it would almost be a certainty there would no longer be
happiness or laughter in the streets of Aleppo like days of old. The image of these
children playing, however, proves that there can be hope in even the worst of scenarios.
This visual image uses many concepts of design to capture and retain its
audiences attention. The color of this piece accurately portrays the wreckage in the
streets of Aleppo because it is indeed an actual photograph, not a drawing or a painting.
The carousel is not necessarily where it was originally intended to be placed and is most
likely in the middle of the street due to the utter carnage of the violent Civil War. The
street itself is littered with debris like the remains of concrete structures, garbage, metal
piping, metal framework and much more. Even though the photograph was not taken in
black and white, the colors of the street that surround the playing children can be
described as bleak and uninviting. Much how one would expect a Civil War-torn city in
the Middle East to appear. This scene alone would evoke feelings of sadness, oppression,
and grief for the dying city that has seen much better days in its past. However, hope
emerges in this visual composition despite all the negativity trying to suffocate it. The sun

is shining in the photograph, which helps add to the positive message of the piece. Most
of the emphasis in the color of this piece falls on the carousel itself. The eight or so
horses on the carousel are glaringly white with vibrant scarlet/red saddles. The carousels
vibrancy draws attention onto itself and makes it the centerpiece of the visual
composition. The appearance of these horses gives a playful attitude to an area that most
likely has not seen much fun in quite a bit of time. The vibrant horses effectively contrast
the bleak darkness that gently surrounds them. The children in the image are wearing
western clothing like sweaters that impose neither a sense of poverty or wealth. These
children in all likelihood are average Syrians trying to live a normal life in a time and
place where normal unfortunately means conflict. Their faces seem innocent, expressing
an eagerness to explore and play with the world around them. The faces of the children
playing can warm the heart of even the coldest human, as they too know you cannot
simply extinguish a childs innocent playfulness. Some of colors in the forefront of this
piece arent necessarily ones that inspire hope, but the faces of the children playing and
the vibrant carousel theyre playing on illustrate the point that hope will always survive in
the souls of the young.
Texture and space are other key components of this photograph. The streets of
Aleppo seem bruised and battled compared to streets most people in the modern world
are accustomed to seeing on a daily basis. The street in this photograph is disgustingly
littered and gives a sense of grime and filth most people can relate to. Concrete rubble
and other jagged pieces of metal protrude from the piles of dirt and trash that surround
the children, creating a sense of danger most would not want their young ones playing
near. The children find themselves playing on this carousel because it is the only thing in

sight that isnt completely destroyed and filthy. Proving that the innocence of children
will always find a way to shine through the darkest of situations. The carousel is placed
directly in the center of the photograph making it the focal point of the visual
composition. There isnt much empty space in the photograph because the artist wanted
to capture the dire scene of war-plagued Aleppo and the destruction the Civil War had
caused to the once beautiful city. The contrast between the destruction of Aleppo and the
hope in the eyes of the three children is made blatantly obvious by simply skimming over
the photograph once or twice. This once again shows that even in the worst of times,
there is a constant hope in children that never dies.
The intended audience of this photograph is anyone in the westernized world who
is unaware of or simply interested in conditions in modern-day Syria. Many westerners
do not take the time to think about the countless amounts of innocent people whose daily
lives are affected by the tragedy that is warfare. Individuals today are more connected
than ever before via the Internet and cellular devices, but many are unaware of the
suffering felt by large portions of the world, including these unfortunate Syrian children.
This unknown artist does a tremendous job of showcasing both the tragic and inspiring
emotions war can provoke in society. Many of the visual elements in this photograph like
texture and space provoke the negative emotions brought about by war, but at the same
time, this piece ultimately reflects how even in times of violent conflict one thing can
always be found in the innocent eyes of the children of any nation; hope.

Peer Comments:
1. The thesis of this paper is that war can never take way hope from people and the
photos illustrate this idea.

2. The paper does a great job of analyzing the individual pictures and the overall
photo-essay. I think that your structure was great.
3. The paper used many of the vocabulary from the toolbox to describe the photos.
I think this paper flows really well and has a lot of good analyzation and descriptiveness
of the pictures. The paper is long but it is full of analyzation and keeps the reader
interested all the way through

Works Cited
Robins-Early, Nick. "17 Haunting Historical Photos Of Children At Play During
Wartime." The Huffington Post. TheHuffingtonPost.com, n.d. Web. 13 Oct. 2015.