Practicing criticality

At first glimpse I see these two images as war photojournalism portraits due their very specific contexts and time frames. They were taken in Afghanistan and display young girls coming from Taliban backgrounds.

Considering their composition and aesthetic both have clear traces of western influence on how the subjects are arranged and the colors contrast. It’s like they were modeling.

These images differ on their theme, as the first one implies the problem of children marriage and the second one shows the extremism of the Islamic application of sharia law by the Taliban.

One focus on the beauty and somehow innocence of the girl, while the other focus on the abuse and violence she suffered because of the religious and cultural beliefs.

McCurry chose to omit his subject’s name, almost making his subject a general symbol of all Afghan young girls living under Taliban’s control. Because of the generality of this idea passed and such perfect application of all the technical aspects (lighting, sharpening, colors, composition, etc.) and the beauty of the girl herself, the photograph reminds us of a painting.

On the other side, Bieber shared his subject’s name, making her history very personal to the viewer, and used more raw photographic methods what makes his image more journalistic.