Through the Glass Darkly

As I browsed a recent batch of photos, I found this shot of Lael, originally shot in color, of course, that I absolutely fell in love with, though I’m not sure why.

Certainly the smile is enchanting, as is her sheer enthusiasm for the game she is playing.

But there’s something else I find attractive, a quality I originally called “Through a Glass Darkly,? a rather sad feeling despite, or perhaps because of, the joy in her face.

Perhaps the scratched, blurred surface reminded me of old photographs of my mother, my daughter, or even myself, as a child.

Perhaps the plastic bubble enclosing her saddened me, a subtle reminder I could never again truly experience the childhood joy she was feeling.

5 thoughts on “Through the Glass Darkly”

  1. Wonderful picture, Loren. Even more so because you chose to convert it to monochrome. I have a feeling that, as Lael gets older, this is a photograph her parents will treasure (for all the reasons you mention in your post, and others besides).

  2. Strange Loren, it had exactly the same effect on me. Sort of sad despite the smile. I think it is, as you say, a reminder of old childhood photos (very old in my case) whose moments are gone forever. But what a great job you have done.

  3. We look at the world once, in childhood.
    The rest is memory.

    Louise Gluck, Nostos

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