Teju Cole Assignment

My favorite photo that I have chosen to write about from Teju Cole’s essay “Perfect and Unrehearsed” is “Three boys in Liberia” taken by Martin Munkacsi in 1932. This photograph is a decisive moment type of photo. In the photograph we see 3 boys caught in the middle of running which tells us if the photograph was taken a second later their movement and the photograph would look different. In the back we can also see water and waves splashing up in the air that were caught in that moment so taking it in a different time would also impact the look of the waves. This photograph can also be seen as a documentary photo. The photograph shows us an event and action of kids enjoying and running towards the water. Looking at this photograph the story it is giving me is that these kids are just being kids and having the time of their lives running and playing around with the ocean’s water. I enjoy how in the photo if it wasn’t for their feet it can also seem like they are running towards the photographer but since we can it is clear they are running away towards the water. I think the dominant impression the author tried to convey is the feeling of being free. The boys being able to run around on the beach with the fresh ocean air.