How many meanings can a photo hold?
- There she is, a twenty-something American girl abroad -- Doc Martins; contra-conventional, near buzz cut; shades; skate board in hand; guitar and pack on her back; the very picture of openness to the world.
- Under the signs of St. Peter of Rome and Santo san Pere -- the Catalan born Pedro Nolasco who founded the Order of Mercy to redeem captives held by the Moors -- Europe struggles for a unity which once Rome provided and a pluralism with succor for today's victims of Muslim chaos.
- A Catalan street, where independence from and loyalty to engage in a timeless struggle being played out in one nation or another on every continent.
- A drain; is Spain going down the drain? Or Cataluña? Or Europe? Or her generation? Or our Western values of tolerance and progress? No way; no way if she and her generation have anything to say.
- An arrow points to the future -- and she looks that way in confident expectation.
BTW, "she" is my granddaughter Liza.
Here is another shot of a romantic-moody Liza
by her Indian friend Radhika, also an exchange student in Barcelona, with a
wonderfully evocative eye.
Well this is fun. Liza is a wonder and not an "outlier" for her generation. I just hope she continues to vote her values for saving the world and including all people in a more peaceful and secure future. Her parents, your children, have done a wonderful job.
ReplyDeleteAnn says the photo reminds her of an Edward Hopper paining.
ReplyDelete