Children at any age are very malleable during their early years of life. The image above is a picture of a two-year old boy not only looking at himself in the mirror but also utilizing what the mirror can do and looking back at the photographer. This child is coming into what is called the “mirror phase”, popularized by psychoanalytic theorist Jacques Lacan. According the book Practices of Looking, the mirror phase is defined as a stage in development “in which the infant first experiences a sense of alienation in its realization of its separateness from other human beings”. Lacan furthers the definition in stating that the child is able to “recognize the mirror image to be both themselves and different, yet as more whole and powerful...it pushes them to grow”. Until young infants are able to look into a mirror and see their reflection, they do not connect with the idea that they have a body. When they see this, they have a desire to become one with their bodies while looking at the reflection. The child in the picture is just starting to recognize himself and his role in the world, all the while looking up at the camera very so innocently.
