Daily Image: A Fascinating Photo on Shorpy.com

This photo can be seen in much greater detail on the excellent photo-sharing website for old photos, Shorpy.com. What I find compelling about this particular photograph is the range of emotions in the children's faces, the unknown worldwide chaos these kids were about to experience (via WW2), and the time capsule of American education form and fashions from this pivotal time period. To get the full experience of this photo, make sure to view it in full-size.

One aspect I think is especially interesting is in the basic differences between boys and girls that gets captured in this photo. There are four boys looking directly at the camera when this photo was taken, while only one girl (in the back, you can only see her one eye looking) is looking at the camera, and probably is only doing so because she thinks that she is hidden enough behind her classmates for the camera to not embarrass her. You can even see the girl in the middle of the room intentionally staring down at the floor to avoid the camera's gaze! Fascinating.