Photography is a lonely pursuit. You’re by yourself a lot by design. Then you share your work with others. Often, no one responds. They don’t see what you see. They don’t care for one valid reason or another. It’s precisely like prayer. The image goes unanswered. Almost always.
I composed this scene in Sintra, Portugal at Pena Castle. When I snapped it, I was interested in the sharp contrast of the silhouettes. After studying it, I realized that the image is potent. It summaries and critiques Plato’s allegory of the cave all in one go. Human troglodytes staggering toward sunlight while the light of reason is ominously extinguished.
Of course, what’s contained in an image is generally supplied by the observer. But that’s also Plato’s major point: The kind of soul you have determines what you see in the first place, in life as in photography.