My wife and I are at a friend’s house for a combination birthday and Easter celebration. I was sitting in a chair and reading a message that had come through on my phone. Suddenly, 2 young girls run loudly by me. I looked up at the distraction. While the perpetrators of this disturbance were long gone, another, even young girl walked by. She was obviously wondering where the older girls went. That in itself would normally barely register on my attention meter, however, I noticed this little girl, no more than 3 years old, wearing shoes that were at least 3 sizes too big. That this was mildly comical was beside the point. This toddler wanted to be part of the “big girls” group to the point she was trying to wear “big girls” shoes.
The decisive moment was actually 3 decisive moments as she turned her head to the left, to the right, and then once more to the left. This little girl had a look of mild distress on her face as she wanted so find out where these girls went. She then took off in her original direction, her feet shuffling as she struggled to retain the shoes that were way too large for her feet. My camera, alas, was not in my hand when this unfolded, and the decisive moment passed before I could get the camera ready for shooting.
I understand that without the context of the “big girls,” this photograph would probably not have been understood by many. It also may have been dismissed as one trying to capture a “cute” image of a girl wearing shoes that were too big for her. It was the look on her face that brought everything together as she was desperately trying to find the older girls. This point was driven home by what I could only say was her trying to be like the “big girls” as well, as evidenced by her wearing a pair of shoes that probably belonged to one of older girls.
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