Jay Maisel is an interesting guy.
Here is a little video about him:
He went after someone for using a highly modified version of one of his images so I removed the image you posted here. (see: http://waxy.org/2011/06/kind_of_screwed/ )
What I like about your assignment is you went out and just did what you needed to do. You did the research and found some work you like. You will do just fine if you keep tugging at the threads of learning and knowledge like this.
You observed a key thing in your piece. The idea that often great images are just distilled down to the bare minimum. This is the case in the image you mentioned. Simplicity and a reduction of clutter and noisiness in an image can often make for powerful photographs.
A seemingly “simple” visual photograph can actually be quite complex in meaningful. The image you highlight is full of meaning but visually clean and simple.
One can only hope to achieve this level of mastery of the craft.
I encourage you to follow his work and even take a look at some of his books.
Nice job here. Please move onto the next assignment.