Humans are not present in the picture frame in this symbolic interpretation. Water, fire, trees, and individual non-humans are present. We are disconnected from the picture as humans through the camera lens. This picture strikes me as a powerful symbol of the world today. One could think of the picture as a representation of an actual event, where clearly humans are not so disconnected but involved, yet this picture goes beyond the literal and to the subliminal world of art.
Art is a lie that tells the truth.
Much truth here. The picture also offers a powerful juxstoposition between the meekness of the deer and the appetite of the fire. At the height of the Vietnam War, a mangy Thai puppy came to epitomize for me the wanton death and destruction of innocent victims and habitat that pay the price for human folly. The puppy, temporarily rescued by my children, eventually survived 3 near death situations before finally being killed by a truck. I had escaped Vietnam on the Eve of the massive Tet Offensive, the bloodiest massacre of the Vietnam War.