Visual Composition

(Left) Frame magnetism was the first thing that jumped out at me. The people doing cartwheels in the sand are being pulled right out of the frame, there is so much magnetism. There is also a great deal of light at the top. Light naturally draws one's attention to it. The rule of thirds is all over the place. The water reaches the 1st of 2 vertical lines separating the photo into three parts, and the hands of both people are on the 1st of 2 horizontal lines. Using only black and white conveys a sense of calm as well. Couple the color with the action, and it becomes a very relaxing and enjoyable photograph to view.

(Right)

This picture, taken in Mogadishu, becomes much more disturbing. Where in the last picture, the black and white colors were comforting, the blatant red of the person's missing or severly injured arm pulls you right to it. It is also on the bottom of the frame, pulling you in that way as well. The photographer placed the red on the vertical 1st line, thus abiding by the rule of thirds. The man on the right seems to be saying something to someone out of the frame, but we are given plenty of look space, as if to expect the next frame to be of the person he is calling out to. Almost all of the men in the picture are holding on to a stand of some sort. Each of their arms creates a line that directs you to the center of the photo. While they are all standing over the injured person, the lines to the stand create a sense of romanticized unity.