Major Terri Gurrola

Major Terri Gurrola and her daughter Gaby taken by Louie Favorite/ The Journal of Constitution/ AP


In this picture Terri Gurrola is reunited with her daughter after serving in Iraq for 7 months. The picture shows Terri on the ground wrapping her daughter in a tight hug. She is crying tears of joy after being able to see her daughter after such a long time. Her daughters face is not visible in the picture, but I would imagine that she has a ginormous smile on her face. This picture stands to represent the intense emotional pain soldiers endure when they have to leave their families behind. This is a timeless photograph which captures a perfect moment in time, forever.

I think what is great about this picture is that it focuses on this connection between Terri and her daughter. It catches a moment in time that they both will remember forever and it creates an emotional response by those who view it. It is a very personal picture, which can be seen through Terri's tears and her hand placement on the back of her daughter head while she embraces her in a tight hug. I can only imagine watching Terri see her daughter and run to her and fall to the ground to give her a hug and hold her tight.

The floor is bright white and glossy, which makes the picture seem focused and clear. There is the lower half of someone's body in the picture, but it is definitely not something people are focusing on while looking at this picture, however, it can help to show that the world is happening around them while they are frozen in time with this moment. I think what my eye gazes towards first is Terri’s hand on the back of her daughters head. It is a small gesture, but somehow it had a major effect on me, because something so little like that was something she couldn’t do for months. This is truly an emotional picture, which has now been frozen at that moment, and can be used in the future to represent the struggles of soldiers and their families.