Photo of the Day (6.14.09)

Flickr user Lady Expat is responsible today’s stunning Photo of the Day shot. There’s so much wonderful stuff happening here, it’s hard to describe it all. The first feature you probably noticed are the stunning colors of the green/yellow pillars, which contrast with the soft red folds of the our subject’s robe.

But the real focus here is that mysterious monk. As my eyes savored the image, I found myself returning to this man’s haunting face, an odd mixture of serenity, mystery and grief. It looks like he’s blind but it’s hard to say for certain. Plus there’s the wonderful body language of his clasped hands, wrapped around his knee in a gesture of introversion and hesitance. It’s a fleeting moment that is at once melancholy, but oddly beautiful.

Have any travel photos you would like to share with our Gadling readers? Why not add them to our Gadling group on Flickr? We might just pick one of yours as our Photo of the Day.