The Hole in the Sky
Brooke Shaden - Invading Homes, 2011.
I kept seeing the above image in my head and tried to find it online. Despite knowing it was likely one of Brooke Shaden’s, I couldn’t seem to find it until the other day. It must’ve been the luck of the new moon. Brooke Shaden is well-known in her field and has produced some of the most familiar surrealist photographs in the last decade.
It’s a relatively simple picture with a blend of cool and warm colours. The contrast between the sky and the approaching cloud is sharp; the colours indicate bad weather, and this helps to create a sense of foreboding. The darkest part of the image is the tear in the cloud, and we can see birds flying out of it in increasing numbers. We see a couple in the centre foreground looking backwards while running away.
Why are they running from the hole in the sky? Why would birds send them fleeing? They don’t appear to be heading towards the couple, so I’m not sure why they would anticipate them as a threat.
The dark clouds could be symbolic of dark thoughts. Because clouds contain water, there is a suggestion that dark emotions fuel existing ideas. Or perhaps it’s the other way around, and thoughts are somehow tainting the feelings. The couple running could imply running away from a perceived threat, yet the birds’ flight path suggests no need to worry. They are both looking backwards, and I wonder if this references looking too much into the past. Are the dark thoughts possibly no more than paranoia?
Birds are often symbolic of communication. Placed behind the couple, this implies words that were spoken in the past. Did something get said, and now you can’t seem to get past it? Or maybe the conversation was needed, and it didn’t happen. The words somehow escaped and the moment was lost.
If they don’t turn around and face forwards, they risk tripping over something they didn’t see coming. I also notice they’re running downhill; taken figuratively, does this mean it’s all downhill from here?
The woman’s dress suggests romanticism, although the guy’s clothes look more practical. Is he the more grounded of the pair? If the image resonates and you’re single, it could describe an ongoing inner process. Maybe a part of you is holding onto thoughts and feelings that are irrelevant to your future. The image suggests that fears may be unfounded, although it also indicates a strong need to face the future because you need to be able to see where you are going.
Miley Cyrus does some great covers of old songs. Her version of The Cardigan’s Communication is really good and was a prompt for this post. Every time she sang ‘“through the hole in the sky”, I couldn’t get Brooke Shaden’s image out of my head. It may not be a coincidence that the song is titled ‘Communication’, and it’s exactly that subject that features strongly from the interpretation of the birds in the picture. The song and image have very different interpretations overall, but I do like how one led to the other.
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