A Question of Legs : The Hedonistic Frog of Lotfi Bouslah

I have always been fascinated by frogs. The house I grew up in in Belgium had a pond with frogs who would charm us at night with their noisy hypnotic songs. I find their amorous croaking enchanting, and I would listen to it until sleep overtook me. The heat of summer, the stars, the frogs, these were magical moments in my childhood, a bit of exotic reverie in the village life of a curious and restless child. The amphibian shared in the photo by Lotfi Bouslah of Lolo Pics is a Pelophylax bedriagae, the aquatic frog of the Levant, who is native to the south of Europe and who has been introduced into other countries of the Mediterranean region, a frog who spends most of its life in the water. It is a large frog, with colours varying from green to brown, with dark spots on its dorsal side. The photo of Lotfi Bouslah has a disarming charm, and shows the frog in its green - brown water costume, suspended in a moment of rest, its long legs comically stretched, and its head with the pattern of brown stripes along the length of its curious and alert eyes. The frog shows a keen interest in the photographer, even though she seems uncertain about his intentions. Lotfi Bouslah brings us into the world of the frog, a place of a relaxing atmosphere. The frog invites us to consider her perspective : the instinctive capacity to enjoy each fleeting moment of peace, of tranquility, like the warmth and the sun of a summer's day, by the serenity of a pond. The scene of the photo underlines this serenity with a composition in which the frog is the prima donna, with just a hint of greenery at the edge of the pond, and with the water a muted blue a bit murky, and the body of the frog submerged, with the exception of the head with its brilliant colours. There is the intriguing detail of one of its round eyes being reflected in the line of the surface of the water, as well as the long legs, in their somewhat scandalous pose, in this luxurious nature tableau. It is a brilliant portrait, carefully conceived. The photo of Lotfi Bouslah invites us to consider the perspective of the frog, its advantage of being a creature of the natural world, capable of living outside of the frenetic pace of the world of humans. She questions our position, and makes us wonder, even if it is only for a brief and passing moment, on the problem of our perspectives and their corruptions. She invokes a nostalgic feeling, a smile, from us, with her completely relaxed behaviour, that is totally self - assured, and  reminds us of these fleetings moments of childhood where time did not exist and the sensual summer nights of frogs croaking stretched themselves out with a pleasure that invaded our dreams with tenderness and innocence.
Trudi Ralston

The information on the aquatic frog Pelophylax bedriagae, courtesy of Wikipedia.