Kara Walker

A common theme among Kara Walker's pictures is the use of pure shape instead of realistic shaded forms; all people and objects are seen as simply black silhouettes on a white background. This makes the people's shapes need to be more expressive, since you can't see their faces or any values in the body that may make it easier to interpret their movements or emotions. Here, both people are making big motions, and the man's tears are more pronounced than they would be in real life so that the viewer can see the feeling.