Hwanhee Rhee_Reaction

 

 

 

I love taking pictures. I have my own DSLR so that on holiday I go to several places to enjoy my hobby. Last year I visited many places but two places was very memorable, so I want to introduce one picture for each places. The first photo was taken in Tanzania in the eastern Africa, and another one took place on Mapo Bridge in Seoul. Two photos show very different aspects of human life.

 

The first photo was taken when I was on missionary trip to a small town called Narungombe, located in the southwest side of Tanzania. We gave people some help for building a church, and performed for kids. I participated in that team for photographer and engineer. On that day on the photo, actually it was not that good day, because our generator was broken accidentally. The generator was so needed because almost every town outside the capital city had no electricity in Tanzania. When we were trying to fix it, there were already so many kids waiting for us to do something. So our guitarist started to perform. We gave them Jegi, colorful brushes used for Korean traditional game. Players should kick it as many as possible before they drop it. However, because the kids did not know the rule at all, they started to dance with our guitarist shaking and throwing them. Since we had brought several colors of Jegis, the scene was so beautiful and kids became much happier. The days was one of the most successful day for us even without the generator. When you look at the picture, you can see joyful kids face by face, and the harmony of colorful brushes. On the background, there is huge forest with very tall baobab trees. Taking this picture, I intended to show that the happiness is not that related with the progress of technology, but with optimism.

 

The second photo was on Mapo Bridge, well known for some dialogues printed on the banister. In the picture it says “Are you here alone?” Sun is falling down, so the atmosphere of the picture is little gloomy with the question. It was taken on the day before Chuseok, and that is why on the background the highway is crowded with vehicles. In addition, there are so many cars because you can go to Yeouido via this bridge, one of the most crowed places in Seoul. Mapo Bridge should be the crowded and vital place because it is made to be like that. However, as I intended to show from the picture, it is not like that at all. Even though there are so many cars and people on the bridge, no matter what happens, nobody cares. Seoul city put some dialogues on the banister to stop some people who comes the bridge to jump off to the river. Mapo Bridge is the place having the highest rate of suicide among bridges in Seoul.

 

Taking these pictures, I thought several times about the happiness, and the meaning of taking pictures. The photo contains several meanings by making people memorize only the moment of putting shutter. I want to take pictures making people think like that, and above all, making them happy. 

Kayeong Kim / Classification Essay / Tue 9 a.m.

The Korean slang was the first word that I heard from Filipinos friend. I cannot even describe my feelings of shock at then. I asked how he knew that word. His answer was simple. Koreans who lived near his town used that towards local people. He said that he realized that was a bad word by its accent. I felt shame and embarrassment. I thought it came from the ignorance of cultural misunderstandings. However it couldn't be an indulgence of bad behavior. It was not helpful for other people and a nation branding itself. I made up my mind to do something to reduce that kind of people because I wanted to contribute myself for building proud national brand. This was the first time that I decided to work in a public diplomacy field, though I didn't know the terminology at that time.

To be an expert of public diplomacy, we need to develop cultural awareness. It means balanced perspective to see the culture. We shouldn't be obsequious or supremacy. It is important because cultural diversity is only preserved when we have diverse cultures. In this case, the much is the better. Simply put into personal relationship, we don't want to admit others when others don't respect us. Especially this deal with public, we need to know their culture as much as we want to share our culture to them. Just a little interest helps to smooth the atmosphere when we share something among people. To know how to respect is the key for success.

 The second one is the ability to institutionalize. It is easy to think why the law or regulations are made and promulgated. It doesn't mean that we need to control people to be a nice person. We need to give motivation for people to be like that. And I think making regulations are the best way to practice it. Regulations can provide benefits to people. Some people might figure out the purpose under a basis. Furthermore, it helps to recognize good organizations that work hard to achieve the goal. Policy is simple way to make people get involved in the issue. It is also the way to make ideas happen in our daily life. Considering people as much as possible and attracting them with same criteria is the core competency in expert level.

 The last one is physical strength. It might sound weird because those two things I mentioned before were related with mental part. To do public diplomacy, we need to meet so much people who are in concern. Face-to-face meeting is the most effective way to communicate and spread culture. Actually, a professor who works for public diplomacy travels more than 5 countries in a quarter. He always prepares luggage materials by himself. To manage those things, healthy body is essential. Without body has no power to propel all ideas.

Those three things are core to be an expert of public diplomacy. However, you need to make sure that it is the tip of an iceberg. I suggest you to find your own way by referring many examples from others. In my opinion, willingness is the most important thing to achieve the goal. It is like fuel which propels a person to keep going forward. 

Joung Hwan Park / Reactive Essay / Tue 9am

"A picture is worth a thousand words." As this saying goes, complex ideas and a lot more can be conveyed through a single image. The history of photography goes way back to the 1800s, but as technology evolved along with time, the quality and techniques related to photography has paved way for a whole new dimension within photography. A photograph doesn't just capture the moment, but it also has the power to bring out emotion, thought and atmosphere of that captured moment.

The first picture, without knowing the title reminded me of children within a war camp during the war involving Nazis. The children's stiff looks without any smiles let off a sense that they were somewhat forced to be in that environment and that there weren't much room for them to do anything else than to simply sit and listen to whoever was in front of them. However, after seeing the title "Village School", I suddenly realized that these children's looks came about maybe because they weren't familiar with a camera and someone taking pictures with it. It's also interesting to see a number of kids that lose their concentration and have their eyes fixed on the camera because this might convey a lot of things such as curiosity, annoyance and excitement. In addition, the surroundings of the picture including the plain desks, walls and floor all go hand-in-hand with the image of a school located in a not-so-developed village in the past.

The second picture compared to the first, shows children with more emotion and motion. The fact that all the children have their eyes on something and not on the camera in turn makes me interested in what might have been in front of them at that time. Hence, this brought up the thought about how much of an effect different environments can have on children and their state of mind. I was able to find a mixture of emotions within the picture, but I believe the basic notable characteristic is excitement. Hence, if I was to sum up this picture in a word or two, my choice would be "frenzy".

          A picture or a photo allows people's imaginations to run free and create a platform for brainstorming different ideas and concepts. I wonder if it's for this reason that people, regardless of age, enjoy looking at picture rather than something that is full of text. There is not right or wrong in interpreting pictures because its ideas and concepts are bound to change depending on from whom and where they are viewed from.

Ju Hye Choi / Reaction Essay / Tues 9AM

     Last December I went on a family trip to Cambodia where I visited the largest Buddhist temple in the world, Angkor Wat. It was an enormous temple where people from all walks of life were scattered like ants everywhere. I took it as an opportunity to treasure moments of people living in Cambodia and so began taking pictures. Among them, have two pictures of two children one in each photograph. Both are of young Cambodian children who are seated in different places in the temple.

     In the first picture, a little Cambodian girl who seems to be under the age of 10 is kneeling at a corner on a wooden drawbridge. She is wearing a light grey shirt that is slightly ripped on the bottom. It is colored with brown and green drawings at the front which complements the vintage-like area that she is in. She is wearing a thin dark grey pants that is torn on both side of her knee which is revealing her skin. She has a wavy brunette hair which curls outwardly making her overall appearance seem like she has not taken a shower for a while. She is hiding her face in the corner as if she is shying away from the camera yet she has her hands put together palm to palm like she is forced to bring money home.

     Another picture is of another Cambodian girl who looks half the age of the girl in the other picture. She is wearing a bright shirt that has black, orange, pink and purple colors on it. She is wearing pink shorts that complement her shirt very well and it looks like she had her clothes washed the other day. The girl has a dark boyish haircut with a gold necklace around her neck. She has a coconut in front of her with a size larger than her head cut into half. She has one hand on one half of the coconut and the other on her mouth as she eats a little bit of the white coconut meal from the inside. She is sitting sideways to the camera showing the side view of her face and on top of a stony rampart, with a frown on her face. She has a white plastic in front of her opened and a bit far from her. It is as if she was hungry, she threw the plastic and did not bother to keep it close to her.  

     Unlike the first photograph, the other photograph has bright colors in fact many. The colors stand out and it makes the overall atmosphere a lot brighter than the first photograph. In addition, the girl in the second photograph is dressed more brightly, with necklace around her neck and some food to eat that she does not seem like a beggar.         However, looking at both pictures, they bring about the same feeling, hunger and adversity.

     Looking at both photographs, I noticed the importance of our facial expressions. The reason is that even though the little girl in the second photograph has bright clothes on and food to eat, they both photograph being about the same feeling. She does not seem that brighter than the girl in the first photograph. I believe it is the frown on her face. If she had a smile, maybe the story would be a little different. 

Ju Hye Choi / Reaction Essay / Tues 9AM

     Last December I went on a family trip to Cambodia where I visited the largest Buddhist temple in the world, Angkor Wat. It was an enormous temple where people from all walks of life were scattered like ants everywhere. I took it as an opportunity to treasure moments of people living in Cambodia and so began taking pictures. Among them, have two pictures of two children one in each photograph. Both are of young Cambodian children who are seated in different places in the temple.

     In the first picture, a little Cambodian girl who seems to be under the age of 10 is kneeling at a corner on a wooden drawbridge. She is wearing a light grey shirt that is slightly ripped on the bottom. It is colored with brown and green drawings at the front which complements the vintage-like area that she is in. She is wearing a thin dark grey pants that is torn on both side of her knee which is revealing her skin. She has a wavy brunette hair which curls outwardly making her overall appearance seem like she has not taken a shower for a while. She is hiding her face in the corner as if she is shying away from the camera yet she has her hands put together palm to palm like she is forced to bring money home.

     Another picture is of another Cambodian girl who looks half the age of the girl in the other picture. She is wearing a bright shirt that has black, orange, pink and purple colors on it. She is wearing pink shorts that complement her shirt very well and it looks like she had her clothes washed the other day. The girl has a dark boyish haircut with a gold necklace around her neck. She has a coconut in front of her with a size larger than her head cut into half. She has one hand on one half of the coconut and the other on her mouth as she eats a little bit of the white coconut meal from the inside. She is sitting sideways to the camera showing the side view of her face and on top of a stony rampart, with a frown on her face. She has a white plastic in front of her opened and a bit far from her. It is as if she was hungry, she threw the plastic and did not bother to keep it close to her.  

     Unlike the first photograph, the other photograph has bright colors in fact many. The colors stand out and it makes the overall atmosphere a lot brighter than the first photograph. In addition, the girl in the second photograph is dressed more brightly, with necklace around her neck and some food to eat that she does not seem like a beggar. However, looking at both pictures, they bring about the same feeling, hunger and adversity.

     Looking at both photographs, I noticed the importance of our facial expressions. The reason is that even though the little girl in the second photograph has bright clothes on and food to eat, they both photograph being about the same feeling. She does not seem that brighter than the girl in the first photograph. I believe it is the frown on her face. If she had a smile, maybe the story would be a little different. 

Simmy/ Reaction essay/Tue 9am

As children are the future of society, even photographers often focus their attention on children. The two photographs: "Village School" by Margaret Bourke-White and "Children's Puppet Theatre" by Alfred Eisenstadt both take children as the main characters. In the first photograph, children lack smile and the mood is kind of serious; while in the second photograph, the children seem to be excited and the mood is bright and happy.

In "Village School", the mood is cold and serious. Children sit rigidly, their faces show nothing but stolid indifference. We are able to imagine that the teachers are so strict to them that they are afraid of the teachers and are used to hiding their emotions. In addition, the main color is dark which strengthens the serious mood. Children are supposed to be naive and happy, maybe the photographer makes use of the contrast to convey the message that teachers shouldn't be so harsh and indifferent to students.

In "Children's Puppet Theatre", the mood is bright and happy. We can obviously see the excitement and delight from the children's faces. So it's easy to deduce that the children are immersed in the brilliant performance. Also, the photographer chooses the bright light to emphasize the atmosphere. By expressing the children's delight, perhaps the photographer just wants people who look at the picture to be influenced by this positive mood.

The similarity of the pictures is that they both choose children as the main center of interest. The difference is that the mood and message that they express are totally opposite. As analysed before, we can see the difference from the children's expressions and the light that the photographers use.

In conclusion, the two pictures are both focus on children, but the one is serious and without warmth, while the other is happy and positive. Personally, I think the photographers make use of the various elements properly; thus, the messages are clearly conveyed. 

Reaction Essay/ Yujin Song/ Tue 9am

Do you enjoy taking pictures? Today lots of people are interested in taking pictures. Some people take pictures to record their daily lives while others take pictures to deliver their thinking. There are various reasons why people take pictures, and the pictures create different atmosphere. The following two pictures, “Village School” and “Children’s Puppet Theatre,” are showing everyday life moments of children. The subjects of both photographs are children, but they are the good example of showing the different mood.

 

The children in the first photograph “Village School” seem to be stiff and nervous. Most of them are in short hair and staring at the camera with no facial expression. This makes me think they are under the strict instructions in the school. They are probably not encouraged to express their own thinking and feeling. Furthermore, they are in the same place but they do not communicate with each other. They seem to be ignorant to other children. As the children are arranged in an inverted triangle, the boy in the first row gets highlighted. He is lifting up his big round eyes toward the camera, not his head. He is both alert and curious.

 

On the other hand, the children in the second photograph “Children’s Puppet Theatre” are active and playful. They are expressing their feeling freely. The boy in the middle are stretching out his arm and shouting with excitement. The boy on the side is putting his hands on ears, and he may be afraid of what will happen in a few seconds. The kids on the other side are leaning together and one of them is showing curiosity on the show while the other is looking at the camera. All of the children do not hesitate to show their feeling so that the mood of the photograph is light and vibrant. Some children in the background are out of focus, but we know they are all having fun.

 

Although the two photographs are taking pictures of children, the moods are totally different. The children of “Village School” are arranged in an orderly manner, which makes the atmosphere gloomy and rigid. On the contrary, the children in “Children’s Puppet Theatre” are not standing in good order, but the mood is lighter and more playful as the facial expressions are various and straightforward. In addition, in “Village School,” the light shines only on the faces, which emphasizes the faces with blank expressions while the most part of “Children’s Puppet show” gets light, giving the bright atmosphere.

 

The two picture is similar but different. In “Village School,” children are stiff and they just remain still. They seem to be reluctant to show their feeling and they even don’t try to talk with others. Also, the light is only on the faces, they are highlighted much more. In contrast, the children in “Children’s Puppet Show” are more active and open. They feel free to show their feeling such as excitement and curiosity. Also, thanks to the dynamic facial expressions and light, the photograph is lively and bright. It is interesting that the same subjects can be captured in the very different way.

Chanil Kim/Reaction Essay/Tues 9AM

Babies cry. Until babies can talk, they try to reveal what is on their mind by crying. In the two photographs, "Village School" by Margaret Bourke-White and "Children's Puppet Theatre" by Alfred Eisenstadt, the children does not look too young to talk, but they cannot tell us what they are feeling. Instead, they are just allowed to show us their emotions with expressions on their faces. By comparing the two photos of children with different expressions on their faces, we can see how circumstances can influence the way the children express their emotions.

First, children in "Village School" are indoors. And almost all of them are wearing dark-colored clothes. As a result, the photograph looks dark in general despite a little bit of light in the top right corner. Second, the children are just sitting motionless. They do not seem to be moving their hands; actually, we cannot see even one single finger of them. Finally, almost all of the children is staring at the camera. It looks as if they all aware of being taken a picture of.

On the contrary, every aspect mentioned above is somewhat different in "Children's Puppet Theatre." The children are outdoors in this photograph. Besides, they are wearing relatively bright-colored clothes. Although it is unclear whether they are all standing or not, they at least do not look static. That is in part because each children is using their hands and arms freely; for example, a boy is covering his ears with his hands; a girl is putting her arm around another girl's shoulders; another boy is stretching his arm pointing at something with his hand. Unlike in the previous photo, the children do not seem to notice they are taken a picture of. They are paying their all attention to something else, possibly a puppet play.

These differences between the two photographs contribute to the difference in the mood of each photo. The darkness in "Village School" lets this photo look gloomy while the brightness make "Children's Puppet Theatre" look hilarious. In addition, the dynamic features of "Children's Puppet Theatre" makes it seem to be exciting while the motionlessness of "Village School" results in the boring scene. Children in "Village School" realized they are taken a picture of because they were distracted. They were distracted because they could not concentrate on what they should watch or do. In contrast, the children in "Children's Puppet Theatre" look so into what they are watching, so they seem to have no time to look around and find the camera. Children's expressions on their faces do reflect these differences between the two photos: expressionless in the first photo and a variety of expressions in the second photo.

The children's looks on their faces are differently presented through the two photographs according to their mood. The only thing the two photos have in common is both of them include children. But we can easily notice that all the other aspects surrounding the children are quite different from one another. A photograph is a different type of art from literature or music in that a photo do not use an language by any form in order to convey an idea. But by means of other methods such as the main center of interest, lighting and mood,  photographers are capable of impressing viewers with the messages and feelings hidden in their photos.  In this sense, when people see "Village School", they are likely to feel somewhat suppressed; on the other hand, when people see "Children's Puppet Theatre", they will feel as if they themselves are watching the puppet play that is amusing the children so much.

Ju Hye Choi / Classification Essay / Tues 9 AM

     We see many people today wanting to become musicians. Reality-singing competitions like American Idol and The Voice have been lasting for years because of its huge popularity. However, the chances of making it to the top are slim and the biggest reason is that becoming a singer requires a lot more than a beautiful voice. If you are one of those people who want to pursue music and make a living out of it, here are three tips to keep in mind that can help you make it to the top.

     First, know how to use your voice. Knowing the proper way to sing will give you more confidence, energy and positivity. Last February 2013, famous female artist Beyonce hit sensation after her Super Bowl halftime show because not only was her performance great but she managed to pull off a 15 minute non-stop live performance. She pulled it off was because she knew how to use her voice the right way which gave her all the confidence and energy that she needed.

     Next, do all that you can to improve yourself as a performer. This means taking voice lessons, exercising continuously, letting others comment on your singing and making as many opportunities to become comfortable as a performer. The reason is that in order to succeed in the music industry, you must learn to give a hundred percent in a performance. Singers like Celine Dion, Beyonce, Andrea Bocelli and Jay Z are already well-known for their singing and rapping ability but they continuously try to improvise because it is one of the biggest ways you can pull off a great performance.

      Last but not least, you must develop your own style. There are many people who try to sound like a specific artist they like or want to sound like. However, trying to sound like someone else will not do it. You must try to experiment with different ways of singing and different types of music because it is the only way to find out what voice suits your personality and makes the most of your voice. If we want to connect with others, it is easier to sing with our own voice than by trying to sound like someone else.

      People would struggle making it to the top without the three things needed to become a singer. Having a beautiful voice will not matter if you do not know how to use your own voice. Knowing how to use your own voice will not matter if you do not put an effort on improving yourself as a performer. Continuously practicing and improvising will not do it if you do not have your own style. If you consider to keep in mind the three tips mentioned above and apply it to real life, there will be a better chance for you to succeed in the music industry. 

Park ye jee / reaction essay / tue 9 a.m.

Do you like taking a picture? I like taking a picture because when I see the picture, I can remind the time when I took it. Specifically I can remind the atmosphere, the feeling I had, too. Actually, a photograph has an incredible power. According to the ways the object was taken, or the object itself, many things like the atmosphere, the feeling, and the intention are differently delivered to the viewer. For example, there are two pictures; one is titled as "Village School" and the other is "Children's Puppet Theatre". These two photographs transmit respectively different moods to us mainly because of the objects.     First, the photo "Village School" shows some children inside a certain place. They are sitting in the long wooden chairs in a few lines. And, the all of the children seem to be boys because of their short hairs. And, it seems that most of them are staring the camera with similar facial expressions. Additionally, in this photograph, the light is focused on children's faces. Except their faces, the background or surroundings are black colored.     Second, the photo "Children's Puppet Theatre" also shows children outside. Some children are clearly seen and other children behind the photo are not. They looked excited to see something in front of them. But, they don't look they are looking the camera. Contrary to the first photo, in the second photo, the children's facial expressions look much more various. Some children are opening their mouths widely which look they are yelling. And one child is covering his ears with his hands. One girl is putting her hands over her mouth. The other characteristic is the picture looks brighter relatively than the first photo.     With these two photographs, I can see both similarities and differences. As similarities, first, the objects are children in two photos who look similar age. And second, these photos are black and white photos. Lastly, they are looking the same point. As differences, the moods through their facial expressions are exactly different. The mood in the first photo seems to be dark, and depressed. And children look nervous and cautious at something. On the other hand, in the second photo, children look very excited and free. So, I can feel something energetic and I become curious what they are looking because of their reactions.     To sum up, I tried to explain two pictures and tell the similarities and the differences between two photographs. I learned that even though the object are same, the mood it delivers can be various depending the situation, the focus of light, the expression of the object.

Minah Lee/Reaction Essay/Tue 9a.m.

Sometimes when I feel like breaking out of my daily routine and taking off somewhere, I open the 'pictures' folder and look at all the pictures taken while traveling. That's my way of being on a time machine and the journey back to the good old days only takes a few minutes. I strongly believe the power of picture, which sometimes tells more than words. The two pictures on page 152, "Village School" and "Children's Puppet Theatre" tell two different stories and I'd like to read those more closely from now on.              The first picture, "Village School" gives a dark image and a heavy atmosphere on the whole. Since more than a half of the space is dark and children are wearing mostly dusky colors, their faces look distinct from the background and that make eyes lay on their facial expressions. They are not smiling; rather do they look serious and quiet. 13 children are sitting in pews and they're all facing forward. It looks like something weighty has happened for sure, such as being scolded by their teacher or being at the very moment just before taking an exam. This picture makes me curious what has happened.              The next picture, "Children's Puppet Theatre" is full of children. They're watching at a puppet show and they all look interested. Compared to the previous picture, children in this one have every different reaction. The boy right in the middle is crying something out loudly. He may yell at a horrifying character to go away. Two little girl standing in front of him are totally scared. A girl on the left is also yelling as if she's encountering a ghost or Frankenstein. On the right side of her, there's a girl putting her left arm around her brother-like younger boy's shoulder. She must be so shocked that she is stunned into silence. Her brother looks less surprised and the boy on the left side of the picture is putting his hands over his ears trying not to hear any frightful sound. Children behind these kids have similar but slightly different expressions, and that is why this picture is interesting to take a look at.              The two pictures have in common. Children are about the same age and they all face the same direction. However, the atmosphere is very dissimilar, serious versus exciting. "Village School" only has boys and they're all seated in a quiet room. Children in "Children's Puppet Theatre" are mixed with boys and girls, and they're outside with loud noise. Since they're all naïve, pure little kids without hiding their feelings, reading two stories behind the scene is not that hard.

Jong Beom Cho_Reaction Essay_Tue 9AM

 Photography is like cutting out a piece of the world. Depending on how you cut the world, the piece will look radically different. It is why photography is such a powerful method to show emotion and the beauty of the world. It picks out the endless flow of emotion and beauty of the world and condenses it into a visible format. 'Village School' and 'Children's Puppet Theater' are doing the same job. It both uses children as a subject but they contain very different emotions and feelings.

 

 Both pictures are similar in that it uses children as their subject. Children tend to show their emotions and feelings more directly than grown-ups. Therefore, photos are often more emotional and powerful when children are the main subject. In this sense, both pictures are showing powerful emotion. 'Village school' contains somewhat eerie mood that children are sitting in a very machinelike position as if they were all preplanned. It is very strange because it is natural for children to be somewhat random and freely running around. The kind of behavior in the picture reminds of cadets in the military institution. In contrast to the 'Village School', 'Children's Puppet Theater' is more lively and natural. Smiles of children are always comforting and peaceful. It makes everyone who sees them happy. The picture depicts children showing their joyful and colorful emotions to the puppet show which is very natural and children-like.

 

 'Village School' is unique that there is no main theme. When someone encounters this picture they are not able to clarify the main theme. In other words, the picture is offering diverse emotions at one time. The children's eyes which are staring at the camera shows their curiosity as if they had never seen a camera before and they are filled with somewhat fear at the same time. The atmosphere is mainly dark and strict but at the same time the children bring some kind of young energy into the picture, thereby giving people a feeling that the strictness is being rebelled. In addition, all the children are seemed to be thinking about different things. Since what is being taught in the class is unanswered, it gives a mysterious feeling to the picture. All these emotions are making 'Village School' give people a wave of emotion that they cannot understand at a glance and make them wonder about what is going on inside the picture.

 

 'Children's Puppet Show' can be said as a typical children subjected photograph. Children are one of the beloved subjects of photography because the emotion they provide is so powerful. For instance, a single picture of children killed from a hunger or war actually have sparked a worldwide humanitarian movements. Since children are powerful subject it could create a masterpiece but at the same time many photographer will attempt to this subject to make a powerful picture but mediocre picture in sense of uniqueness. 'Children's Puppet Show' is a good example of this mediocre but powerful picture. The composition of picture is so typical. A group of children having a good time is almost as common cliché as wedding pictures of a couple. It gives joyful and colorful feelings but since it does not expand outside the typical children subjected photograph, it can be said this picture is well taken but mediocre picture at the same time.

 

 'Village School' and 'Children's Puppet Show' are excellent examples of how photography can produce different photographs with the same subject Their use of a children as subject is leaving people with different feelings and became determining factor for the photo's quality. The fact that these two photos have many issues to be discussed leaves a lot of room for creative thinking in terms of approaching photography and is valuable lessons for every photographer.

Yujin Park / reaction essay / Tue 9am.

When we look at our old photo, we can know how my feeling was from my facial expression in photo. So, through photos, we can easily understand its overall atmosphere from people's look on their faces and also from its background. Let's think about this with two photos, Village School and Children's Puppet Theatre. By contrasting between the two, we can easily figure it out how many aspects in the photo can affect not only to its overall atmosphere but also to our feelings.

First, in Village School taken by Margaret Bourke-White, characters and background of this photo make us feel dark and make the stifling atmosphere. Children are all seated in class and staring the camera. They just look at forward with no smile and with no facial expression. And they are in dark classroom.

Second, the photo of Children's Puppet Theatre taken by Alfred Eisenstadt, it has quite different atmosphere with Village School. Unlike the former, children in the photo have various facial expressions. Some children are smiling and some seem to scream. So, this bright and happy look makes the atmosphere much brighter and lively and vibrant.

Most of all, the main factor that makes the difference between this two photos is the focus of the camera.
In the first photo, the camera focused on their faces, their expressionless face. This focus emphasizes children's face and it makes the atmosphere much darker.
However, in Children's Puppet, the background is bright. So, we can feel cheerful atmosphere in this photo.

Taking a photograph is kind of big habit loved by many people in the world. We share our happiness and sad with our photos. And when we look it again, we can feel how our feeling was and it also affects our current feelings. Taking a good photograph means this. When the photo can make us feel sad or happy with the photo, it can be the great and impressive one to people. And it is memorable.

Se Jong Lee/ Reaction Essay/ Tues 9-11

Do you like taking photos or watching the photos? Photo is displaying many things. It not only shows the figures of itself but also implicative meanings. Photo's inner meanings are sometimes very profound. These two photos, "Village School" and "Children's Puppet Theatre" are also showing many things inside.

So let's look at the photo's itself. The first photo, 'Village School' is with children in the middle of the photo. They are looking at here. All of the boy's hair was cut and the children are all boys. In other photo, It is taken at the inside so the photos are very dark. "Children's Puppet theatre" are also mainly taking photos with children. The photo's perspective was clear that at the front of the boys were taken more detailed and less at the behind. The photo's are taken at the outside and looks very bright.  

So the both picture are taking children mainly, there are also very big difference. As everybody are easy to see, the first photo looks very gloomy mood and make feel sorrow. Children didn't show any expression. They have no expression and it shows like very sad. It looks like they are already experienced real life. It is showing like they are having hard time that day. It can portrait the devotion, but it can also show moderation or poverty.

At the next photo, "Children's Puppet Theatre" looks very bright. Every children's expression are exposed and every their face are different. Also it looks like they are cling to the front and it makes photo dynamic. Children have innocence of childhood itself so make people happy and bright. So the photo shows hope, peace, childhood, bright mood.

So photos are sometimes showing more than what we can only see. Sometimes they are show lots of things by mood or how they are taking in. As we saw both of the photos with same material but become very different how we take a photo. So these two pictures 'Village school' and 'Children's Puppet Theatre' are showing lots of difference.

Seonyoung Hwang_Reaction Essay_Tue 9AM

Children

     There are still tens of old photographs displayed on a bookshelf in my dad's study. He would always bring his camera to take pictures of his family and some of his work-especially me and my younger brother with swimsuit when we were 5 and 4- are still on his desk with old frame. He would smile and reminisce about his pleasant memory with his family whenever looking at them. The two photos, "Playing in Street Sprinkler" and "Children Playing Baseball" are focusing on children as their main interest by creating soft atmosphere. But the positioning of the children is somewhat different and thus, the mood of the photos is different.

     In "Playing in Street Sprinkler", a group of children-roughly ten- are playing in a sprinkler which is spouting water. Water from the sprinkler makes the picture refreshing and cool as if it quenches the kids' thirst. The main center of interest is children and they are located on the left periphery. The children seem to enjoy spending time together as they are yelling and running around. Also, there are antique yet organized buildings standing in a row in the background as well as some people passing by. Since all those objects are positioned in the left side of the photo it creates dynamic and liberating mood. The children look so active as if they are going to run towards to the end of the left corner and conical shaped body of water looks like it will reach up to the sky to cool off the heat.

     In "Children Playing Baseball", approximately twenty kids are gathered together in an alley. Few kids are playing baseball while other smaller kids watch them playing. The tallest boy in the center is about to throw the ball as if he is the best pitcher in the world. The children are distributed evenly on the left, middle, and right periphery. Few kids in the left corner are paying attention to the game except for the smallest girl. The girl interestingly staring at the front while everybody is looking at the different point. There are majority of the kids in the middle who are focusing on the game. Two or three kids are standing right next to the players and that makes them look like enthusiastic fan. In the right corner, several kids are standing on a big old wagon while watching the game. On the top of the photo, there are square and rectangular jagged laundries fluttering in wind. Because of the even position of the children, the photo creates calm and peaceful atmosphere. It feels like it is quiet and still. Besides, the square shaped laundries, which are considered to be stable, make the atmosphere more tranquil.

     Both photographs share similarities in terms of focusing children. As they pay attention to children, they elicit wistful and nostalgic atmosphere. In "Playing in Street Sprinkler", the children as well as background objects are positioned on the left side that makes the photo more live and animating. Additionally, the buildings in the back seem to be continued and this creates the mood that this pleasant moment will last forever. In "Children Playing Baseball" has more peaceful and quiet environment compared to the previous photo because the children are evenly positioned in the left, middle, and right periphery.  Uneven laundries hung on the top look a bit cluttered but since they're in square shape it offsets untidiness by their square and rectangular shape.

     The two photos are mainly reflecting children doing something. One is vibrant and active as it put the main interest in the left corner. The other one is calm and still by distributing the main interest evenly. Yet, the two photos creates nostalgic mood that makes people recall their past.

Minju Yeo/ Reaction Essay/ Tue1,2

Looking at the two different pictures of children, "Village School", and "Children's Puppet Theatre", I could feel their pureness. They express their feelings without hiding.

In the first picture, "Village School", the overall atmosphere is quite calm and a little bit dark. The picture is taken in a dark careful room. Children in the picture are all staring at the camera. It seems like they've never seen a camera before, and they don't know what to do when they're taken this photo. Some children are staring at the camera and some are staring at the other areas. But they are all very rock-faced.

In the second picture, "Children's Puppet Theatre", the overall atmosphere is quite bright. It looks like some children are shouting and some are surprised. They are all bunched together so we can't see all of their faces, but we can feel their excitement.

The similarities between these photos are apparently they're both the picture of children. Although the atmosphere of the two pictures is quite opposite, both the pictures make us feel their innocent mind. The children in the two photos look like the same age, somewhat between 7 or 8 years old.

The first photo shows dark atmosphere and the second photo shows excitement. They both show the pureness of children, although the atmosphere is different.

Jieun Choi/Reaction Essay/Tue 9am

            Last February, I traveled to Kansai, Japan for a week. Especially in Kansai, I visited Osaka and Kyoto, which are the two representative cities in that area. I literally took hundreds of photo because I wanted to capture the moments that gave joy to me. After I came back to Seoul, I went through the pictures I took. There were a few photos that I really liked, and these are one of them that I took in Kyoto.

The first photo was taken from Sannenzaka of Kyoto. In this photo, we can see the traditional Japanese houses standing in the row, very close to each other. These houses are about two-story-tall wooden houses. In the foreground, there are Japanese style umbrellas, which grab our eyes. These add Japanese-like atmosphere to this photo. Also, at the upper side of the photo, there is bare tree that adds seasonal information. And the sky with gradation of orange and blue makes the photo colorful, and adds warmness to it.

The next photo was taken from Kingakuji. The first thing that comes into our mind is the Kingakuji itself, which is the shiny golden temple. It's not a big temple, but it grabs our eyes by its splendid color and shape. Then, you see the nature around it. In the foreground, we can see the pond with gentle ripple. Then, we see the numerous trees in the background with blue sky. By taking the photo with putting Kingakuji on the right side, it seems like Kingakuji is surrounded by the nature.

To compare, I can feel peacefulness from both photos. The first photo seems peaceful to me because of the sunset and houses. These houses are all stores right now, but I heard that people actually lived here a long time ago. In this photo, I can imagine a peaceful evening that people going back to their home where their family are waiting for them. In the next photo, I can feel calmness from the subject temple itself, and all the natures surrounding it. Under the sun, the temple is shining, the lake is tranquil and trees are standing still. The impressions of these photos are quite different, but they all give some peacefulness to me.

In contrast, however, both photos give different impressions to me due to the difference in contrast. The first photo has a higher contrast with sky and the houses, so it gives stronger feeling of evening. The second photo, however, has relatively lower contrast than the first photo. So, every elements' colors in this photo seems more colorful than the first photo. 

reaction essay/ahn sang-wook/tue 9 AM

Reaction Essay Ahn Sang-wook.

 

It is apparent that these two photos are completely different! The name of the first photo is "Village School" and that of the second photo is "Children's Puppet Theatre". The prompt emotion that I have is that first one looks gloomy on the contrary to the second one looks positive. These are overall mood of the two photos. Let's analyze the details of the photo: Each description of the photos and what is alike and what is disalike in the photos?

 

Firstly, In regard to the first photo, the overall atmosphere is quite gloomy and dark except for the fact that the photo is a black-and-white one. And we can witness the straightness of the photo. The boys, most of whom are wearing black clothes, are sitting on the chairs which are made of straight timbers, and the wall is made of straight timbers. The boys in the photo even sit on the chairs in a row. Moreover, the facial expressions of the boys are very monotonous. They literally have an expressionless face. Some of them are frowning at the photographer. However, most of them stare at the same direction without any vitality.

 

Secondly, when it comes to the second photo, we can feel much more energetic than the first photo which looks gloomy. This feeling is attributable to the bright and lively facial expression of the children compared to the first photo. It seems that they are extremely surprised after watching puppet theatre. Some of them are screaming at the front while a boy is closing his ears. We can see this on the left of the photo. Regarding the overall atmosphere, it is quite disorganized compared to the first photo. However, we can catch out the straight rebar on top of the children.

 

Finally, what is the similarity and differences between two photos? Both of them show children assembled in one place. In addition, there are straight things in common. However, there is an enormous difference between two photos. The first one looks really black, gloomy, and monotonous contrary to the second one which is relatively bright, energetic, and lively. I think a photographer wanted to emphasize the fact that children is differ based on where they are by presenting two contrasting photos.

 

   The first photo shows a gloomy aspect of children who are in the village school. This can be recognized through their expressionless face. On the contrary, the second photo shows a bright aspect of children who are out of classroom to watch puppet theatre. However, there are common things as well. The object of the photos is children who seem within same age group. And we can feel straight things as well.

Ju Hye Choi / Teachers / Tues 9 AM

     We meet a lot of teachers in our life. Among them, I remember my 6^thgrade teacher. He was a Filipino, tall and slim, who had black hair, dark eyes and a slightly tanned skin. He was always presentable and had a broad smile that made him stand out in the crowd. Whenever he smiled, the corner of his eyes wrinkled as his eyes lit up and his cheeks dimpled as the corner of his closed lips curved upwards. It made him look warm, reliable and caring. It had the power of brightening up the classroom or anywhere he went. I remember one day when his smile comforted me for the rest of the day when I was having a very hard time at school, mentally and physically. He showed me what a smile can do. Now looking back I am glad that he was my teacher for he has shown me the beauty and the power of a smile.

Ju Hye Choi / Teachers / 9 AM

     We meet a lot of teachers in our life. Among them, I remember my 6^thgrade teacher. He was a Filipino, tall and slim, who had black hair, dark eyes and a slightly tanned skin. He was always presentable and had a broad smile that made him stand out in the crowd. Whenever he smiled, the corner of his eyes wrinkled as his eyes lit up and his cheeks dimpled as the corner of his closed lips curved upwards. It made him look warm, reliable and caring. It had the power of brightening up the classroom or anywhere he went. I remember one day when his smile comforted me for the rest of the day when I was having a very hard time at school, mentally and physically. He showed me what a smile can do. Now looking back I am glad that he was my teacher for he has shown me the beauty and the power of a smile.

Hyein Shim/ reaction essay/ tue 9am

A photograph can bring many emotions and feelings to people who are staring it. Even if the characters of a picture are laughing, you can feel sadness, or even anger. Because it depends on your own emotion at that time, not the characters’. So every time I saw the photographs “village school”, and “children’s puppet theatre”, my feeling is really different all the times.

 

         The photograph “village school” is by Margaret Bourke-White. In this photograph, 13 kids are sitting on the chair, and all they are looking forward. No one is laughing, no one is talking. The background is dark, so it makes children’s faces dark too. Because of this darkness, the characters are really emphasized. This makes audiences focus only on the children.

 

         The photograph “children’s puppet theatre” is by Alfred Eisenstadt. There are many children and all they are looking forward so it feels like they are staring at you, the audience. This photograph focuses on the children’s facial expression, so the audience can see various kinds of children’s emotion. Some of them seem like laughing, while some look like screaming. The background is bright, so it makes children’s face brighter.

 

         Although these two pictures’ characters and backgrounds are fixed, my feeling of these pictures is not. It changes. When I saw “village school” three days before with full of happiness, I thought the children look really concentrated on something. Their wrinkled brows made me feel like that way. However when I saw this picture after few days, and I was really stressed, this children looked really upset. The same wrinkled brows brought different feeling. Also the photograph “children’s puppet theatre” brought different kinds of feeling depends on my emotion. At first I thought that the children of this picture are really cute and i felt innocence because of their facial expression. But I felt some noisy after few days because of my stressfulness. So I was surprised how my feelings are changed even though I saw the exact same pictures.

 

         A picture is just a picture. It doesn’t tell something to us. It just gives the basic information. So if you feel some kinds of feelings from a picture, it may be your own feelings and emotions at that time.

Lo Yun Seo / Tuesday / Reaction Essay / 9 a.m

Having concentration on facial expressions of children in the two photographs, we can feel many different emotions. We can find out a number of stark contrasts from two photos even though both photographs depict the children who are almost in same age. One photograph is "Village School" which was taken by Margaret Bourke-White. Throughout the photograph, she wanted to show the harmful effects of wars so she included this picture in her own book, "Eyes on Russia", which was published in 1934. The other photograph is "Children's Puppet Theatre, Paris 1963" which was taken by Alfred Eisenstaedt. Throughout this picture, she wanted to reveal the freedom of youth. In both pictures, one boy is the main center of interest but these two pictures have a number of different in moods.

In "Village School", the children are forced to seat in rows in cramped, dark room. All the children consist of only boys. It gives the deep impression that the mood is much stricter. The boy who is the foremost is the main center of interest but even the boy the face expression is same from the rest of other. The children have similar face expressions. All children just stare something and compress their lips. Furthermore, they have a scowl on their faces. Also every child in the picture is isolated from the rest of others. Seeing aspects of light, the light which is shining only focuses on the heads of the children. The rest of parts of the picture are too dark including children's bodies.

In "Children's Puppet Theatre", all children are standing up in freedom in the unlimited and bright outside. There are not regulations or pressures and children are just behaving as they please. The picture includes both boys and girls. The expressions on the faces of the children vary greatly. For example, looking at the boy who is focusing on something and pointing out something, his face expression is considerably different from other friends. The boy is the main center of interest in this picture. He is screaming with his mouth opening widely. Like this example, in the photograph, some are laughing out loud while some are screaming and a few are gazing in awe. Also every child in this picture plays with other child not being isolation. Looking at light, every part of the picture is shining even though the children are much brighter

In "Village School", the light is shining only on the boys' faces while in the other picture, whole part of the picture is brilliant. These makes we associate someone who is about to hang in effigy from the "Village School". In the past, when a criminal was put to death by hanging, a light was shining only his face. Seeing the Village School, The boys in the picture remind us of hangers. So we can foresee that the boys' future is not bright so the picture gives us a sense of frustration. In the first photograph, we feel gloomy, serious, and rigid. In the picture they are just frowning. Also every child in the picture is isolated from the rest of others. So we can also feel lonely, solitary. Otherwise, in the other picture, we can feel happy, playful, and vigorous and free because the children has no inhabitation. They just release their emotions, not having any limitation. Also every child in this picture plays with other child not being isolation. So we can also feel warm and genial.     

Both works have a few things in common. But we can find out much many differences in two pictures. And these differences evoke very different atmospheres from each picture. We can discover a number of differences much easier, even though in both photographs, the main centers of interest are the same. In two pictures the light part is different and it makes different moods in each picture. One picture makes we feel frustrated because of the prospects dark future of the boys. In the first photograph, we feel dark feelings while, in the other picture, we can feel a kind of bright feelings such as freedom, happiness.  

    

Sunmin Lee/reaction essay/tue 9am

When we look at any of our pictures, we can feel the same emotion that we had at the time. The same is true of the photographs taken by professional photographers as well. Here are two photographs that can be good examples. One is "Village School" by Margaret Bourke-White, and the other one is called "Children's Puppet Theatre" by Alfred Eisenstadt. Although both are about young children, these two photographs have many differences.

 

In the picture "Village School," about a dozen of boys are seated in rows. They are sitting on long wooden benches that look uncomfortable. The classroom is very dark, seems there is no window, and the wall and floor are also wooden and dark with no decoration. Except for two of them, children are wearing same black clothes which seem their school uniforms. Because of these dark and dry backgrounds of the photo, the faces of children are highlighted. Including the boy in the first row, several boys are looking at the camera. They have short hair with pale faces, which are well contrasted with the dark color of clothes and classroom. Seeing the faces of children carefully, they barely show any emotional expressions. Most of them have expressionless faces, except for the boy in the very front with a curious look and the boy in the right side of the second row who looks worried and concerned.

 

In contrast to the Bourke-White photograph, children in "Children's Puppet Theatre" are in the outdoors. It seems like a daytime and has bright lights in all corners of the photograph. One of the most interesting aspects of the photo is that each and every child has different facial expressions. Two girls in the right side have widely opened eyes with big surprise, a girl with dark coat is screaming at something, and a boy in the left seems frightened closing his ears. All these different emotions show diverse characteristics of the children, which make the photograph much lively and dynamic. It is also noticeable that all the kids are not watching at the camera and this shows that they are all immersed in the puppet show.

 

"Village School" and "Children's Puppet Theatre" are both photographs of children who are in the same age group. However, the emotions and feelings evoked from them are completely different from one another. Boys in the first photograph are in the dark classroom sitting in rows. None of them are talking or showing any emotions, so they look serious, bored and even suppressed by their teacher or someone authoritative. On the contrary, children in the other photograph are all free to show their emotions. Some are surprised, some are scared and shocked, and all these emotions are expressed from the children's faces.

 

Despite the differences, both photos are dealing with young children. Yet, they are very different in the emotions and their atmospheres. In the first one, we can feel the formality, rigidity, and seriousness. But in the second photograph, we feel various and extreme emotions and vividness. From this, we can also learn that photographs have a strong power of transmitting emotions to the viewers.

ChanLan Hong / Tuesday / Reaction Essay / 9 a.m

There was an old Chinese saying, "One picture is worth ten thousand words." What this mean is that, a picture tells a story just as well as a large amount of descriptive text. When we lay our eyes on a picture, it brings back nostalgic memories. Different facial expression and background settings convey different stories altogether. The two famous pictures, "Village School" and "Children's Puppet Theatre" are good examples for us to see how different settings and mood convey different stories and perception when is viewed.

          "Village School" is a picture taken by Margaret Bourke-White, an American lady during the 1990's who is well known for her contributions to photojournalism. She is also the first American photographer who was permitted into the Soviet Union. In this picture, you see children being arranged into a V-shaped composition, similar to the hand sign of "peace". The boy in the front has a mischievous smile, while the two boys in the second row appears to be looking confused, not knowing what they should do and where they should be looking at. The gap between one another in the seats arrangement shows zero interaction among them. This creates a very tensed atmosphere. Gaze into their eyes, and it shows no sign of life. The overall expression and color in this picture looks dead.

          The "Children's Puppet Theatre" on the other hand, has very rich expression from each kids. The boy on the left has his hands covering his ears. The girl next to him has her mouth wide open, as if she was yelling for help. The boy in black, right above her has his hands raised, yelling in excitement. The two girls towards the right are both hugging and resting on each other's head. One of the girl look very amused on what is shown in front of them, while the other look very calm. The personal space between one and another are close, this creates interaction and each has different reaction towards what they are looking at.

          The lighting in "Village School" is dull and with the children dressed in black, making the scene looking depress. With the black-white colors and facial expression, it reminds a similar scene of our everyday life. The black and white color symbolizes clothes white-collar workers wear. White shirt on the inside, black coat on the outside. When engage with work, we are always looking real serious, and the working environments often impose strict supervision. We are expected to obey all rules and regulations and behave in a regular way, like those boys in the picture. However, the mood and colors in "Children's Puppet Theatre" shows the opposite. We often see this type of expression after work. We scream, we yell, we laugh and we joke. There is life in the eyes, burning with passion.

Even though the subject focus of both pictures are the same, each produces different outcome. On one side the children are sitting still and calm while on the other hand, the children are free and easy. The theme of the photographs that could be drawn are collectivity vs individuality. One has to conform to authority and another, is free to express how they feel. Yet, both pictures show how brutally honest children are when expressing themselves. When they are marvelously happy, you see big toothy smile on their face. When they are unutterably sad, you see tears rolling down their face. Being able to express their emotion honestly is what makes them children.   

Minju Yeo/ Teachers /Tue 12

  I've met many teachers in my life since elementary school. Among them, I remember my favorite teacher as my first teacher ever, the home room teacher of the first grade of elementary school. Although time has passed a lot, I still remember many lessons she taught me. Other than teaching us the class materials such as math or science, she always taught me and my classmates about respecting others all the time. She made a saying for my class, "As much as you respect yourself, respect others, as much as you love yourself, love others." Since she said this saying a lot to us, I still remember her voice reading this saying to us. I feel I'm very lucky to meet her as my first teacher, because I learned respecting others which is one of the most important virtues I have to have in my life. Sometimes it's more important than studying hard.

Kayeong Kim / Teacher / Tue 9 a.m.

 A teacher, by the definition, can be everyone who teaches. I thought over who would be my best teacher ever. Soon, I found that I respect almost every teacher I met in my life. There was a special person, however, even though she is younger than me. In November 2011, I run for an election of president for the student organization. Usually, it was a single person as a candidate. But I had a very strong competitor. Because of the inner circumstances, there was tons of tense between us. Both of us had a powerful supporters and someone mentioned that it would be a crucial decision that could change the path of organization.

 I finally won a slim majority and it wasn't because I was better than her. I was eager to be a president, but I wanted her to be a president. After the election, I couldn't treat her properly since I had no experience of that situation. She and I was a rival. I had no idea how to react towards her. It is normal that the winner approach first to the loser. Ours were different. She controlled her feelings of sorrow and overcame the failure. Then she approached me first and celebrated me. She joined my team after the election and she helped me a lot. She even told me that she felt relieved to see me as a president, not her.

 She taught me a lot during a year. It was my first role as a leader and she always gave feedback for me to improve my leadership skills. I understand how hard to respect someone who beat on myself. It could be jealous or unsatisfactory to respect that person. However, she did. She did more than that. She taught me what the real win was. Until now, she works very hard in her situation. She became an example to me. I realized that the age doesn't matter when we want to learn from other people. I appreciate her teaching through our experiences. 

Simmy/ teacher/ Tue 9am

 We meet a lot of teachers in our life. Some are good and some are bad. One teacher I really liked. He taught us well and helped us learn other things too.

He was my English teacher. Unlike other teachers who just kept hammering English notes into our heads, he preferred the class to be active and funny. We made use of English knowledge to role play, and we also watched English movies to learn the oral expressions. He even led us to the open air to breathe the fresh air as well as learning the English expressions about nature. We got rid of the dull type of class and were actually immersed in his interesting teaching.

He also helped us learn other things. For example, he tried to make our attitude towards life stay positive. "Never frown, because you never know who is falling in love with your smile." He half joked.

"No matter how difficult situation you are in now, believe you'll go through it and it will be the past. After all, tomorrow is another day." I liked his warm smile, which also conveyed the positive attitude to us. I'm glad he was my teacher.

 

Jong Beom Cho_Teacher_Tue 9AM

 I open my album and see the photos taken when I was young. Every year there is a picture I took with my teacher. There are so many pictures but some are deeply embedded in my memories and some are hard for me to tell their names. Of all those teachers Mr. Kim is the teacher who I always find first when I look through my album. "Math is the most sophisticated form of art," he used to say. Mr. Kim was a math teacher and every time before he started the class, he gave a short lecture on the importance of mathematics. His favorite words were "basics, basics, basics." The whole class was about understanding the foundation rather than memorizing and problem solving. At first his method was questioned because everyone thought math was all about problem solving. However, Mr. Kim's method taught us that the process of finding an answer and the importance of basics. His teaching influenced my life greatly. Now I always look at things in much longer perspective, starting from basics. I learned that answering is not the only fun part. I am so glad he was my teacher.