The photo on elementary school in Moscow captures my interest because of how orderly and disciplined the children seem. In a typical elementary school, children are usually all over the place, as others listen to their teacher, others are either playing or crying. That is usually because at that age kids have a very short attention span and the teacher has to consistently do things that capture the interests of the kids. However, this particular photograph depicts maximum attention to the person in front of the class, all eyes are facing the same person and their facial expressions are almost identical. The order in the classroom is not only captured in the way the kids seem silent and attentive to their teacher but also in the way their stationery are arranged on their desks. At the either ends of the desks, the stationery are well arranged in a similar manner in the whole class.
When looking at this photograph, the first thing that captures your attention is how the kids are raising their hands. Both of their hands are raised and together with their facial expression, it does not seem like a jolly moment in the classroom. Their posture on the seats also marches their raised arms. The design of the uniform worn by the kids is different. Boys are wearing a shirt buttoned up to the collar while girls are wearing what seems like a dress. The difference in uniform is also captured in the hairstyles of the kids. The boys are shaven low, all the boys in the class seem to have the same length of hair with no cuts whatsoever. Girls on the other hand have their hair tied at the back with some having a middle parting and others lacking.
The negative area in the photograph is the empty wall behind the learners. This wall is intentionally left empty with no pictures or drawings to avoid destructing the learners during their lessons. The lighter paint on the wall contrasts with the darker floor which marches with the seats of the learners. The color palette in this image is black, white and grey. The black uniforms worn by the learners highly contrasts with their faces thus drawing the viewer’s attention to the faces and raised hands.
There is an impressive use of lines and textures in the image. The stands of the desks are curved at the point where the learners are sitting and straight on other points. This simple design is to make the desks comfortable for sitting during the learning process. The rectangular stationery on the desk march the rectangular surface of the desk. The desks seem smooth but your eyes cannot help but notice the hole at the center of every desk. The hole seems like a partition or a boundary on the desk used by the learners sharing the desk to separate their belongings and also to make the desk orderly. This image depicts a classroom that has very disciplined and shows how order is valued in the classroom. The learners are very obedient and this is seen in their posture and mode of dressing.
