The Eyes Have It Essay example -- Photgraph Descriptive Essays

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 soldi er, there are some photographs that take on both a life and a symbolism of their own. This p... ... 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 â€Å"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.