Untitled

I appreciate your constructive comment.

I find it hard to believe that I am the first person to say anything about this little gem of a photo. There is so much poetry here. I have no clue as to the circumstances around this boy/man, but you managed to catch a moment in his life that is expressive in a thousand different ways. Yes, hapless indeed. The grimy hands; the soiled garment; the hard-luck stance with what seems a heavy burden slung over his shoulder; even the tattered sack. All these point to a life of hardship and sorrows. And yet the story does not end here. And this is why I must congratulate you. Looking carefully at the whole picture, how can you fail to see that amid the heaviness and squalor of a struggle-ridden existence, there is also the glory of a life being lived, a unique and unvanquishable spirit going forward. Diametrically opposed to the "corner of hardship" (with the dirt-caked hands, the stained sleeve, the loose shreds of the sack) is a series of radial lines eminating from the boys head. What a stroke of genius to have included these lines. I'm not one of those who confers automatic holiness onto the poor and destitute; they are just as human as the rest of us. No, what I prefer to see here are lines pointing outward, in the same direction as the subject's eyes. His look is not only the look of experience and weariness, but also of hope, and perhaps a shrewd kind of knowing. This person is going somewhere. Maybe he is a long-distance traveller, maybe a local drifter. The viewer can make up his or her own version of the story. More important, I think, is to focus on an aspect of the picture that offers something a little deeper: the two-sideness of life, its inexhaustible potential for self-made deliverance and splendour. Therefore, if you think about it, that stance of adversity and ill-fortune with which the figure is carrying his load can also be seen as a stance of will and determination, a stubborn refusal to give in. Of course it goes without saying that anyone looking at this picture has been offered a poignant rendering of the human condition, which in the end is what makes this picture so great. I'm glad I stumbled on your work.

I am speechless and equally touched, Francis. Your philosophical post-intelectuallization is so poetically well-expressed, I went over it time and again. Your analysis of the underlying expressions and messages urge me to revise my attitude about writing critique. Until now, I consider my critiques something special, but now I know I am nowhere and I feel I have long way ahead of me for improvement. You have mastered the art of writing critique, something rarely seen among PN memebers. Thank you again for your touching words which, to put it honestly, have doubled my interest in this image and have deepened my perception and interpretations. Your words are ingenuine and so adeptly selected. I am a linguist and writer by profession but I feel humble in your presence.