It is the end of the week and time for my weekly search of the “best of…” images.  I came across this dramatic image by David Cerny of Reuters.  I usually like to describe what exactly we are looking at.  However, it struck me that the sweet and angelic little girl wnd the graveyard crosses are so self explanatory as symbols of death and innocence, birth and resurrection that they seem to defy the need to explain.  They could be equally from anywhere and any time.

With implicit symbolism the risk is always one of being cliche or hackneyed.  I think that for several reason Cerny has avoided these pitfalls.  It is the coloration, the perfect composition, the out of focus cross in the background that so make this image.  And then I look at the little girl’s face partially obscured by the cross and I am struck by  the way that her eyes look up and away from us. This can be seen in classical images and implies her interaction with other or greater worldly purpose.  This is truly a wonderful image.