“An ant has no quarrel with a boot.” –Loki, The Avengers

Gazing at Vincent Van Gogh’s “Starry Night,” I realize that Van Gogh must have felt like an ant while staring at the stars. The mysterious vastness of the universe illuminates the night sky. You come to realize that human civilization, even our planet earth, can encounter a crushing end at any moment from the boot of the universe—-like a person stomping on an insect.

I experienced the same Vincent Van Gogh inferiority feeling when I ogled the expansive night stars on top of the blinking San Francisco skyscrapers. I failed to evoke that emotion after snapping several photographs. But I discovered one photograph that was possible to be transformed into a piece of art. After toying with Photoshop’s special effects, I figured out how to change the street lamps and skyscrapers. I was proud to have been able to keep the Christmas lights outlining the office towers, but I needed to replace the night sky landscape.

A simple solution slipped into my mind: replace it. I deleted the night sky. First I attempted to fit the full moon in the background but the scene became weird. Then I inserted northern lights, but proportions were an issue. Finally, I substituted the night background with imagery of shining starlights and bright gas clouds. Success!

The universe stares down at the small city of San Francisco, like an individual looking down at an ant underneath their shoes.

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