Being or Observing

That is the question…

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Two nights ago I watched ‘2 days in Paris’ starring Adam Goldberg and Julie Delpy. I had bought the pirated copy earlier that afternoon from a street stall in Lembang. One of the nicer movies I have seen in a while. Cerebral enough to give you the satisfying feeling that you are watching what many other people would find boring on account of its long conversations and delving deep into the subtleties of relationships between artist couples, and light enough that it does not bore you to death. Adam Goldberg is a far better actor than I had given him credit for, or for that matter, than he had given himself credit for -by acting in so many crappy movies to the point of being typecast as the constant group outcast with long and dishevelled hair and social unease. And Delpy was new to me altogether, and a pleasant surprise.

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Enough of the impromptu review.

Somewhere in the movie, Marion, who is a photographer, says something that has stuck in my mind over the last two days as I go from spot to spot camera in hand and shutter at the ready.

Something to the effect that photography takes one out of the moment and relegates one to the unenviable position of an observer. Rather than being there, one observes as a constant outsider -from beyond the aperture. I wonder if this is happening to me.

Since buying a new, neat and rather pricey DSLR about a month ago, I have shot over four thousand portraits, landscapes and macros -of everything, from micro-chips to insects to flowers-, bought two new lenses and five other camera accessories, -and thanks to a gift account from my younger brother- I have upgraded to the coveted ‘pro’ account on flickr, allowing unlimited uploads… and all the while, I have developed the distinct and uneasy feeling that I am increasingly looking at the world only through the viewfinder.

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And this place is so breathe-takingly beautiful!

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On to another province tomorrow…

~ by safrang on November 19, 2007.