On January 12, 2010 a catastrophic earthquake hit the small island of Haiti. The effects were astronomical, damage and death were exponential, and the entire country was down (Haiti Earthquake). Overall, this event goes down in Haitian history as a terrible experience for all. Matthew McDermott was one of the many journalists from all over the world who reported the earthquake. McDermott was present when two children were being rescued from a plethora of rubble, which had trapped the children in darkness for four days. He captured an amazing photograph that displays one of the children, Kiki, and the moment he was pulled from the debris. The photo has Kiki in the center with outstretched arms as he is reunited with his mother. Surrounding Kiki are workers with smiles on their faces signifying their happiness with the rescue efforts success. While this photograph has Kiki as its focus point, examining the elements surrounding it shows that the photograph also emphasizes the themes of random acts of kindness, empathy, and ironic joy.  

The concept of random acts of kindness is depicted within McDermott's photograph. The rescue effort required a great amount of effort as Kiki was buried under the debris of a three-story grocery store. The workers had to "us[e] saws and jackhammers; others moved buckets full of debris off the mound of wreckage" in order to reach the young boy (McDermott). By looking at the photograph, it is apparent that the immense amounts of dust on all of the worker's clothing, work tools, and debris, indicate the great measures that had to be taken to retrieve Kiki. Despite not having any prior relationship with Kiki or his mother, the workers fully intended to devote their time and energy to rescue Kiki. It is here where the idea of random act of kindness shines. The workers wouldn't be affected if Kiki hadn't been rescued from the rubble. They would continue with their normal lives and think nothing of it. Even though the workers wouldn't reap personal benefit from the rescue the group of workers came together to save this young boy out of the goodness of their hearts. 

Empathy can be seen throughout the photograph. While the focal point of the picture is centered on Kiki, there are a variety of people surrounding him that provide some focus value as well. Pan over to the worker on the upper left. This man is tall, with outstretched arms and a huge smile just like Kiki's. The man on the right smiles and claps enthusiastically as Kiki is pulled from the rubble. The rest of the photograph contains many other workers that express immense amounts of joy upon the success of the rescue effort. All of these workers have no connection to Kiki yet have managed to express empathy. The workers are not directly affected is Kiki's rescue was successful. However, all of the workers were empathetic to the cause making them all feel joyous and ecstatic. Empathy emphasizes the emotional expression that connects everyone in the photo, and allows the focus to shift from the center of the photo to the entire frame. McDermott writes, "Kiki's smile will live with me forever", which proves that even though the photographer had no prior connection to Kiki, his mother, or the workers he felt the same happiness they had all felt (McDermott). 

The earthquake in Haiti was by no means an event that would spark a bit of happiness. Over two hundred thirty thousand people were killed along with the destruction of homes, schools, and work places (Haiti Earthquake). Yet despite all of the sadness and utter despair the Haitians were experiencing, there were some instances of happiness. Families all over that were originally displaced were reunited, and McDermott was able to capture one of these occasions. A young boy was reunited with his mother because the workers came together to rescue him and just for a moment, everyone forgot about the destruction and sadness and was happy. It is ironic to see such a positive picture, while the context surrounding it was very negative. This photograph servers as a silver lining to this heartbreaking event in Haiti's history- while this event was tragic, there are possible happy endings that arose. This was something everyone, especially those affected by the earthquake, needed to see to have some hope. 

Matthew McDermott's photograph has more to show than what appears to the eye. At an initial glance, the photograph has a central focus point that concentrates on the rescuing of a little boy. However, by looking past the focus point, the viewer can see that the photograph captures sophisticated themes of random acts of kindness, empathy, and the juxtaposition of happiness within a sad context. The surrounding workers show that the three themes are very important to the general message of the picture. Overall, the photograph suggests that no matter the situation, happy endings are only possible if we come together and   lend out a physical helping hand to everyone. One can only hope that every bad situation can spawn a silver lining that could bring the happiness Kiki and the workers felt that January night.
