Big Eyes

Under the disheveled hair, there is a pair of bright and big eyes which is full of eagerness for chances to study. You may be not familiar this picture, but almost every Chinese know this girl who is holding a pencil. This picture is the public poster of the Hope Project, through which people seek resources from every aspect to help the children who are born in the countryside and lack opportunity to study.This picture was taken in May, 1991 by a journalist of China Youth Daily. He chose the right face of the girl, and took a close-up of her. This angle of view let people read the expression of this face clearly and let people feel being in front of her, which made them think I was having so strong and tight relationship with this poor girl and I would like to help her. At the moment she just noticed the camera lens. It was the truest moment. Those big eyes were communicating eagerness for books, classrooms and teachers, and the eyes showed the belief that knowledge would totally change their destiny and we would never life in such a poor, backward area and we got to change it. Further more, the photographer chose to develop this picture in black and write. To my way of thinking his purpose for this method is to create a faint atmosphere and set a sorrowful, sympathetic tone. Using this method in the picture reflects how poor she was and how urgently she needed help more profoundly. In the picture, there are two objects bearing a special meaning: the pencil acts as symbol of knowledge and the pair of big eyes represent need and eager. Rugged conditions of study and life the picture shows move a large number of people.This picture reveals am important and urgent social problem the Chinese people are facing---lack of educational resources. In Chinese culture, education for children is the absolutely most important issue in every family. For children, Chinese parents will sell houses, cars and companies to offer a favorable condition for study. This is quite different from the situation of America. I heard that many American parents do not offer money to their children especially for college study. The eventual goal of the Hope Project is to help the children in families which even do not have houses, cars and companies go to school. This picture is the first and most influential poster, like many other public posters, this poster reveals a social problem and the image realistically records what is happening.