An Erisian Mandala

A Sub-Genius of my acquaintance sent me this. I have no idea where he scared it up -- he certainly has the nose for the offbeat image -- and I really apologize to the image's creator for not being able to give proper credit.

(Feel free to add it via the the Comments link!)

Self-important adolescent types, confronted with an image like this, are quick to point out that it is no proof of talent to be able to create a trompe l'oeil like this. OK, maybe, but A) who cares and B) you only said that because you resent not having come up with it yourself, you snot-nosed kid, proving that someone who's not talented can still manage to make you feel dumb.

ANYWAY:

This has all the important elements of a good, spiritually-focused mandala. It seems to change, or move, as you look at it, the way an Escher print does, or the way a corpse laid out in its coffin seems to breathe. It makes you wonder who the funk that is in the picture, and whether they are actually above or below the pavement, or if they only exist in the thin layer of water on the asphalt. Or maybe they are Shoe Genies that can ghost up out of the insoles at their whim, becoming visible under the right lighting conditions, or on a wet day like this one, or in a way that makes only their reflections visible, like Count Dracula in reverse. It makes you think, in a flickering-past way, how photography works and how someone can twiddle a photo to make this look so real...and so unreal at the same time.

So, pretty cool, Mystery Photographer.