A good photograph can have as its subject matter a modest theme, a perspective that disguises itself in the silence of subtlety, of inference. In that sense, a photographer is a guide, who takes us by the hand, to lead us where his subject explains him to go. Kurt Lolo of Lolo Pics shared a photograph today that has a great title : " A piece of the sky on the ground. " It is the reflection of the sky and its white clouds in the water of a puddle, a blue sky with fluffy clouds. The impression of a mirror effect is augmented in the photo because the water of the puddle is covered with a very thin layer of ice, that creates the effect of a broken mirror. It is a photograph that takes you by surprise. There is an undercurrent of disquiet that is powerful, troubling. The puddle gives the impression of a certain danger, like the shards of a broken mirror are when you try to pick them up, you risk to cut your fingers, you risk to end up with a bleeding wound. The trigger of the muted anguish of this photo by Kurt Lolo is its title, whose clever subtlety is worth noting : the title says " A piece of sky on the ground ", not " A piece of sky on earth ". The nuance is important, it is not about a piece that reminds us that there is now a piece of sky on earth, like a pleasant presence, it is about a piece of sky on the ground, so, thrown there, abandoned. It is about a sorrow, a wound of the soul made visible, in this melancholic partially frozen, inaccessible puddle.
Water and its reflection is seen as symbol of introspection, as a way to try to overcome obstacles, to resolve a deep problem. Water is a source of power, a power that can set free, or that can cause harm. This photo implies a warning, a caution, and also sadness. The beauty of the dream of the blue sky and its white clouds is a imprisoned in the piece of broken mirror that is this frozen water, transparent, and also cloudy. The message is " appearances are deceiving." The reflection of this piece of sky and clouds seems soft, gentle, but the frozen water and its irregular angles of the puddle surrounded by very wet grass indicate a context that is not known, not evident. The smooth reflection of the light in this photo recalls a specular reflection, that is the reflection a mirror makes, from the Latin word for mirror : speculum. A mirror is an object of reflection, because it forces the introspection of the object or the person of whom the mirror makes an image. The sky is immense, free, and to see a piece of the sky, on the ground, the way Kurt Lolo has been able to envision it, is profoundly moving, unsettling. It is a photo that evokes sympathy for the dream that reveals itself at the edges of this troubling reflection, and that invites questions. Is this a winter sky or the frozen surface of spring's trapped dream, or is it a sky already dead, that was overcome by the cold, the frost? Is it a courageous dream of hope, or of irreparable sadness?
It is beautiful, this unresolved dilemma, of a song of the heart where one suspects the melody and the words, while realizing one does not know the song. All one can do is to listen respectfully, from a discreet and compassionate distance, that touches with gentle fingers this beautiful blue sky with its puffy white clouds, so soft, so sad, so cold, so alone, and that brings to mind this verse of a song by the British rock band Fleetwood Mac, their song of 1975 " Landslide " :
" Oh, mirror in the sky
What is love?
Can the child within my heart rise above?
Can I sail through the changing ocean tides?
Can I handle the seasons of my life?"
The photo of Kurt Lolo " A piece of the sky on the ground " is a solemn invitation for profound thought.
Trudi Ralston
The information on the symbolism of reflections in water, courtesy of Wikipedia.
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