Ready for his closeup.
I know where this image came from. It began with the random association of two photos that I sliced up longitudinally with a razor, then laid the resulting strips side by side. I subsequently photographed it, dropped out the background and very slightly manipulated the color and sharpness. The result seemed to me utterly surprising, just as confounding, and very disturbing. In a word, scary. So I asked a friend who is well versed in archetypal imagery what he thought. This is how it struck him.
Strangely beautiful? It almost looks like it has some kind of tribal affiliation. It does look a wee bit scary, but that may mean it’s a guardian figure for you, like the terrifying Nio figures that stand either side of the gates of many Buddhist temples in Japan, guarding both the temple and its precincts from evil spirits, and more importantly the Dharma itself. Needs honouring perhaps, not placating! May also be the face of your own unconscious which presents a fearful visage because it remains ‘unknown’ — not yet revealed - so it is reflecting your own fear of it. Once the meaning of those things in the unconscious are understood, they become revealed as ‘friends.’ — Malcolm Ritchie
