I personally prefer the first picture to the second. It has only the important part of the picture “highlighted” while the rest is dark enough not to distract from the subject. In the second picture, the white is competing for the eye with the dark pants, and you wonder, “What am I supposed to be seeing in this picture?”
I do agree with James on not liking the “grungy, processed look” but I don’t think that it has to be avoided entirely, there are times and places where a different “look” can be desirable. The problem is when everyone is “taking pictures” with their smartphone, adding a strange brown muted color with “Instagram” and then calling it photography. It gets rather depressing viewing picture after picture looking like it was taken with an old film camera which someone left the film out in the sun for a while.
However in this case, as I said, “the effect” is positive, and brings your attention to the subject.