Up The Long Ladder

Up The Long Ladder

A man sitting at the edge of the water reaches for a ladder. The ladder is starting to fade away, his legs and feet appear to be damaged. In the distance, several airships float by into a brilliant setting sun, two stars are visible in the sky. A waxing moon is seen between two rungs of the ladder.

Working on this piece for a long as I have, I know what the intent is, but this time I am not entirely comfortable breaking it down. It is a little personal, this one, and was born of frustration of a specific kind. There is some jealousy, some anger even, but to explain how such a placid image is angry would mean revealing the particulars behind the symbolism. The basic conceit of this image is that others have an easy time of it, flying along in the rarefied air, while others have a harder climb to gain any altitude. The stars are a clue, as is the moon, and even the airships have a specific significance to me. Their placement in the sky and their proximity to the stars are a clue, as is the moon and its phase and where it is sitting in the sky. The ladder itself is fading for the man, and assuming he can still use it to climb, it goes up into an ever darkening sky.

I don't mean to be elusive, but in planning this writing, I could imagine the reactions and possible responses I would get from it had I revealed the particular. As I traditionally do notes with each image, it would be strange to write nothing for this one because this one is special to me in that it is very focused in its intent. Not to say that the others are not, but sometimes you dig a little deeper for some than others.

Regardless of its meaning, hopefully this image will inspire some thought. It occurs to me that the ladder, for me, is disappearing, but without reading it, a more optimistic impression can be gleaned from it - one in which the ladder is beginning to appear, to assist rather than vanishing for the crippled man. There really is no right or wrong - I left a lot of space for interpretation. Symbolism is a very challenging technique to employ. It shields intent as much as it reveals, it makes poetic the mundane, but it is also possible to misdirect the viewer from the meaning behind it!

A Before and After version of this image can be viewed on my Facebook page at: www.Facebook.com/MichaelBilottaPhotography

Model: Gilberto Mendez