This photo was taken in a black-only school in Alabama in 1956 by photographer Gordon Parks, who documented inequality and discrimination across the southern United States during the enactment of the Jim Crow laws. This photo is a longshot, taken at medium exposure, and captured with early photo film.

Using a large Field of view, Parks captures the setting of the classroom, allowing the viewer to see the 3 walls of the room. The colour captured in the image is bleak and depressing-like, giving context as to what the students experience at this school. Going on with the student experience, the disorganisation in the students desk reveals that little to no learning can be done, with no tables to work from, and nowhere to store school supplies. It is in complete contrast to what the Western world considers adequate schooling. The rule of thirds breaks down the image into the roof (negative space), walls and an empty blackboard, and the disorganised chairs. The image gives off the sentiment of poverty by the fact that there isn’t a proper door to the classroom, the floor is dirty, the only source of lighting is the window above the doorway to the right, and that the only source of heating is the old boiler in the middle of the room.