Pffft
Vicky / On the Lawn
There is something quite literally miraculous in the faces of strangers. All those faces—all so different from each other, all so alike. All so different from our face. All so alike. They are all pretty and handsome in the same way we are, and in ways different from us. They are homely and unattractive in the same way we are, and in ways different from us. Each of those faces is a mirror showing us the truth and the lie, showing what is and what was, what might have been and what might yet be.
Mirare—to wonder at. From that same Latin root we get the modern words ‘mirror’ and ‘miracle.’ From that Latin root, we get ‘admire.’ We get ‘mirage.’
Looking at this face—at this entire collection of faces, all these admirable mirage faces—how can we not also be looking at ourselves? This is the Miracle of Vicky on the Lawn: in the tranquility of her unruffled, unstudied beauty we can, if we look carefully enough, find some small measure of serenity and grace in ourselves.
Editorial note: Here is the ongoing collection of Jen’s 365 Strangers.
Blog photograph copyrighted to the photographer and used with permission by utata.org. All photographs used on utata.org are stored on flickr.com and are obtained via the flickr API. Text is copyrighted to the author, greg fallis and is used with permission by utata.org. Please see Show and Share Your Work
