I’ll let the image do the talking for a moment here:

Beautiful, ain’t it?

In case you didn’t know: it’s a portrait of Aung San Suu Kyi, imprisoned leader of the National League for Democracy in Burma, as rendered by the great Shepard Fairey. You know, he of the Obama “Hope” poster, the famous “Obey/Giant” campaign, and a zillion other things.

I for one feel that we’re quite fortunate that the attentions and talents of so gifted a visual communicator are being applied to something that so many people in our community care so deeply about.

(If you’re reading this right now, you’re part of that community. At least that’s how I see it.)

The Obama/Hope image, which became truly ubiquitous, is only one example of how much real, capital-H Hope — and possibility – a good image can convey. And it seems that, more and more, this is becoming Fairey’s stock in trade. Though he can paint a bleak — but often necessary — picture with some of his images, he does “Hope” very, very well.

He sure has here, hasn’t he? And I think when it comes to Aung San Suu Kyi, the more Hope we can muster, the better.