Published: March 22, 2022
After the first session was over with my previous stranger, I looked at my watch and as I remember, it was something along (1) one pm. Wrapping up my gears and walking down the footpath, I went ahead a couple of yards until I reached the intersection. I was there standing up the stairs at Park Street, where both side of Hyde Park can be accessed crossing the road.
I stopped for a moment to put my backpack down on that footpath and after taking my camera out, I turned it on to have a quick review of some of the images that I just took. Although viewing photos on a tiny little camera display comes of very little use to judge their actual quality, I still do it. Sometimes those images that are seen okay on the camera display could turn out to be a complete flop when viewed large in a computer. Despite knowing all that, for some reasons I still, however, tend to view them on my camera right after their taking rather them viewing then properly on my computer later. Partly because, there is always a tension, a suspense, a thrill and adventure while capturing the beautiful moments of life. You want to capture the decisive moment – the perfect shot. And that’s why sometimes even if we take many photos – thanks to the digital revolution in photography – yet we always feel hungry for more – always – a little more. Standing in front of a camera and posing for photos is no fun for the subjects, yet we keep pushing them asking for more – just a little more – so we can brag about our prowess of taking the best photo – sieging the picture of the day!
That quick review took about ten (10) minutes going through almost all those images taken just now. After I am done, I decided to walk around a bit to spot something interesting. As I still have some time, I thought I might as well meet someone else. And as I came down the stairs, there I saw her walking slowly coming towards me on the other side of the footpath along Park St. She was then a bit further down coming from the College St side towards the intersection while I was waiting for the traffic lights to go amber right at the bottom of the stairs at park St. And she was coming – slowly – with her head looking down at the footpath and probably her hands folded at her chest; can’t remember exactly though. Out of all the people that were walking, she was the one with the slowest pace. What caught my eyes was her white top against that maroon-colored apron. The sun is now overhead and very bright. The morning clouds are now all gone. And with that bright light the colors on her dress popped against grey footpath and barrier wall she was walking by.
As the traffic lights changed, I started to walk and by the time I crossed she was pretty much in front of me. With that proximity I decided to approach her right there for the project. She seems calm and as I explained the project she happily came along. She had her day off and since she lives nearby, she was having a casual walk down the park when I approached, and that’s probably the reason she was perhaps walking in such a relaxed slow-motion pace.
As I came up the stairs on the other side of Hyde Park, I found the light rather interesting, so I decided to take a picture. Her hair was tied up at the back. And after the first photo was taken, I decided to take another with the hair loosened and it turned out to be better than the previous.
Since the beginning of my photography journey, I was always fascinated by the beautiful colors, contrasts and expressions on human face and undoubtedly that aspect solely dictated my decision to approach her in the first place, however, when I came up close and looked at her, I felt like there is more to it. The innocence on her face – the simplicity and naivety – the lack of complicacy and crookedness was apparently more visible. Being born and grown up in a village myself I have a great affinity to the rural life and with her hair loosened up she stuck me as a typical country girl in all aspects.
As our conversation began, I believe I asked if she does anything artistic and she mentioned about her fascination for drawing as she has been doing it since her childhood. On a side note, I have been trying to learn drawing as well lately. And several months back I sketched a cartoon character on a notepad running along my fingers on the touchscreen display of my phone. Ever since I haven’t done anything more but definitely, I should have. As I shown it to her, she recognized it immediately and said “Yoshi”!
Pen and pencil are her way of drawing although I find it rather difficult and trying to go digital altogether.
So, here is Emily Smith hailed from beautiful country region of Orange. And currently living with her mom and her partner, while her father living in Orange. She also has an elder sister. We walked and talked about her upbringing, and I was glad to hear that she and her stepmom gets along quite well as she referred to her as a very wonderful personality.
On a more amusing note, however, she remembered of having a crush on a kid whom she shared her journey to school when she was eight years old. Although she didn’t like him, as she recollected, she felt he was cute, nonetheless. I forgot the story of how she came about her current partner, but I vaguely remember her mentioning of seeing each other on a social gathering via some of her friends – probably at a dance party but can’t remember exactly.
She tried to perform dancing – ballerina – earlier in life during school and she figured it was probably not for her. “I did it because it was compulsory. I stepped on fifty toes, but I didn’t dance” or something along those lines, she added.
While at school, once she fell off the stairs as she was getting to the stage to perform and that broke the microphone. We had a bit of a laughter out of that as we thought it was rather funny than embarrassing.
I have been thinking lately to visit the beautiful country region of Orange as I keep seeing the colorful pictures of the autumn leaves. The vibrant colors always strike a chord bringing about some visceral reactions in me. Consequently, I feel a craving more and more intense to capture those colors with my camera.
As I asked where to go, she jotted down three (3) names on my phone: Mount Canobolas, Cook Park and Botanic Gardens which I am looking forward to visiting in coming days. A weekend getaway or a retreat could be a perfect excuse or just seeing the vibrant colors of the autumn leaves – either way the trip sounds promising. She added visiting winery and wine testing events could be an interesting way to spend the time there as well.