Sudeep Lingamneni's Comments

I love this picture. Here is a boy stopped in time. He is not moving, he is standing still, and not at his own wish. He is doing what he is being told, while his mind
obviously races through thoughts connected mostly to the present, having not yet learned to reflect on the past or anticipate the future.

His eyes stare directly towards you, yet they are not penetrating, they are open wells in. Into what?, He, though a picture, is looking at us, much more deeply then we are looking at him. His eyes become mirrors. At first we think of our thoughts of him, then we think of his thoughts of us-. The magic of this picture is that we know that he sees us without
judgment, just curiosity.

The symmetry of the picture changes the ordinary to the extraordinary. The contrast of the shades
of color being pleasing, at the same time add an element of depth often seen in
religious pictures. The horizontal lines framing the boys head seem to pull him out from the background. The background `v' shapes seem to be rising, and
corresponding with his v-neck  sweater, he seems to be moving  growing. But since he is just a picture, his size and dimension remain stable. But inside of this pictures persona, he is
growing, being filled by all who view him. The longer we stare at him, the
larger and more real he becomes.

I think he, or I mean the picture itself, somehow (a part of all the things that science has yet been able to
explain) stores that information. And when we look at this picture, and look in this boys eyes we join all the other
viewers, spectators, and the pictures power grows. When we get to the point about thinking his thought about us, we think that he thinks - `oh this is how they are being right now'. He knows and wants to tells us, for better or worse- things are going to change.

So if this picture makes you smile, or sad, or confused, or thoughtful, or irritated,
or bored - then that is who you are in the mirror of this child's eyes. He is not judging you- he is just a picture, you stand judging
yourself (aware - consciously or subconsciously). It is not a picture though, that makes one happy. It is a picture of a young
Buddha telling us in a child's voice: "Be here now".

Post Script:  I want to write that this is the same power as the Mona Lisa, but I don't want in anyway say that I am comparing the works, only comparing the type of magic in which certain pictures gain a
magnetic power that grows with the number who view it.  Not all pictures,
painted drawn, photographed or otherwise presented do that, when it happens it
is a magic moment. I am happy, personally, finding this picture and realizing
(right or wrong) that this is a picture of a magic moment.

***

peace & love
paul grant (follower of Basho)