Photo Essay

Haley McBride

P. 1

When prompted with the idea of creating a mural for the final in Mr. Hanauer’s first period English class, I was excited and a little nervous. I really liked the idea of leaving an impact on the school, but I didn’t know if we were going to be able to get the project done before the deadline. The motif I tracked was the color red, so my first draft of what I thought the mural should be was full of the important symbols from the story and accented by the color red. I was mostly synthesizing elements of culture from The Kite Runner, including kites, self reflection, pomegranate trees, and San Francisco. When I was doing my official rough draft, I drastically changed the ideas I had. Red is still accentuated, but that’s the only similarity. The rough draft featured a Muslim woman wearing a red headscarf and the background is made from newspaper articles about Afghanistan and some of the many issues that occur there.

You can see that my rough draft is similar to the cover of the popular book, I am Malala. I was reading this book at the same time as the Kite Runner, and I noticed the many similarities between the two books. It was Malala’s story that inspired me to focus on the pathos approach for my individual artistic contribution. I chose to feature a single human to make it more relatable to the viewer. There is an emotion connection to the depiction of another human and I feel that exemplifies the way we should be viewing the conflicts with Afghanistan. The claim I am making with this piece of art is that there is no reason that everyone on the Earth doesn’t deserve equal chances of freedom and forgiveness. The use of the color red in this symbolizes hope and redemption, as it does in Kite Runner. The medium I plan to use for this, besides newspaper articles, is paint. I feel that paint is one of the most realistic ways to depict a person and I want my person to feel realistic.The woman has a mysterious, Mona Lisa-esque smile because it isn’t a happy drawing, but still has hope, so she is neither smiling or frowning.

The six facets of understanding I addressed during this project include explanation, through this photo essay where I explain my reasoning and process throughout the whole project. I also utilized application, because I applied symbols I saw in The Kite Runner in my final product and drafts. I interpreted the important things in the book and created the drafts.

On the left you can see my final draft in process. I made this in class on Thursday, May 16th and I really enjoyed the creation process. Most of the background of my piece was painted with watercolors, which I chose because I think it represents the transparency that we feel when we face our fears, like Amir faced his fears in the book and how we should all face our fears in our own lives. I was able to incorporate some of the color red in my final project, with the one pomegranate and the kite. This symbolizes hope and redemption, which also connects to the theme of the whole mural. Red symbolizes hope and redemption because the color of blood is red, and although we bleed there is still the chance to be healed and renewed. You can’t see it in the photograph, but the red kite is covered over by pieces of broken plastic. The broken plastic represents the separation between Hassan and Amir, as well as the separation between those in Afghanistan and those in the developed world. In the center of my square is a cloud made out of articles about Afghanistan. In the particular article I chose, it discusses Afghanistan’s history as a narco state and it’s problems with government. This connects all of the pieces of my painting together because it connects Kite Runner, which takes place and Afghanistan, and the real world and the history Afghanistan. The ethical principle that applies to my individual contribution to this mural is common good because if everyone has hope, and is transparent in their feelings they would be able to cooperate to make a more stable world. My overall claim for this piece of art is that all people deserve redemption and forgiveness, which can be achieved through integrity and truth. My claim is supported by the history of Afghanistan and the story of the Kite Runner.

My main role outside of the artistic contribution was providing organization to our collaborations. My group made the Google folder for everyone to be able to access documents. I was able to scribe for some of the meetings. My group helped decide the due dates and coordinate art supplies. I feel that being in this group was best for my skills and interests because making things organized is something I am good at and feel accomplished doing.

My overall experience with the mural was positive. There were some moments where I was stressed out and unsure whether or not we would be able to complete the final project, but in the end it came together. I was able to learn more about Afghanistan, my class, and myself. I’m happy with the process and how the mural turned out.