January, 2021. Nature imatating art... A year into the pandemic, a white squirrel does his best impression of Auguste Rodin’s The Thinker.

Like Rodin’s The Thinker, this white squirrel seems lost in the labyrinth of its own contemplation, frozen in a moment of intellectual pursuit. Its tiny paws rest delicately near its face, mirroring the brooding weight of the famed sculpture’s chin on its clenched fist. The marble figure, cast in tension and deep rumination, is a study in philosophical solitude—but here, nature gives us a softer, more whimsical rendition.

This squirrel, with its snowy fur and bright eyes, is the back yard’s own philosopher, perched atop its wooden pedestal as though contemplating the mysteries of existence—or perhaps just the logistics of its next acorn stash. Unlike The Thinker, burdened by the weight of human thought, this creature’s musings may be fleeting, lighthearted, yet equally profound in its own way. Two thinkers, one of stone, one of fur, bound by the same ageless pursuit of understanding.

Photography

12” x 18” (16” x 22” framed)