Published: May 4, 2022
It is a wonderfully beautiful sunny day today (May 3, 2022) and in fact, for the last couple of days it had been so, and bright sunshine coupled with a little bit of warmth is what you really need to survive the chilling mornings as winter is about to set in. I was super excited, and I was ready – well, not fully – to get back into the project.
Yesterday I went to Blackheath – an area near the region of Blue Mountains – in NSW to see those gorgeous autumn colors and out of that long drive as well as long walks, I was rather totally exhausted. It was also lots of fun too. But today when I saw the sunshine, I knew what I would be doing regardless of my muscle pains possibly because of taking picture with extreme physical postures just a day before.
When I came to the station today, it was nine more minutes to go for the train to arrive. And as I set on the benches watching some videos on my phone, I felt the sunlight was a bit too warm. Hence, I moved to the bench next to – facing the other way – avoiding direct sunlight. As the train came on time, I packed my heavy backpack and ran to the doors. But the door I was standing by was faulty. It was, in fact, written in the front that the door is faulty and as I remember I noticed that sign however, I was still waiting right there in front of that door; I don’t know why. An elderly lady then broke my trans – “that door is faulty” and then all of a sudden, I started to run following her and just before the doors will start to slide shut, I jumped onto the train and went directly to the top deck.
Usually, when I board the train, I choose one of those rear-end compartments partly because those are less crowded but now since I came towards the middle, the compartment I got into was rather full – well, sort of. The backseat was taken so I settled onto one of the middle seats and continued my journey watching my videos until it was time to get off at Museum station some half an hour later.
As I walked inside the tunnel and took the stairs to came up, it was bright, sunny, and shiny and I went straight to Hyde Park which is right next to the station entrance. Walking a little bit, I got onto that path with overhead trees on both sides. Now I could see the tall buildings shining with the sparkling light partially obscured by the dark vegetation which is swinging back and forth in the gentle breeze that is playing along. I noticed those flowers too – not fresh of course, but not fully out of its colors yet and that’s perhaps the reason they are still there – although they have been laid down in memory of those fallen soldiers few days back during the Anzac Day.
Inside Hyde Park there are many footpaths and along those footpaths there are many benches where people would sit down and relax. As I was walking here and there – along the footpaths, the crossroads, and those benches – sitting down a bit and then wondering around again until I feel tried, I found people are mostly busy – minding their own business. In about ten-fifteen minutes or so, I have come to the other side of Hyde Park (near Museum Station) following that footpath with overhead trees. Interestingly, where I was at that moment, it was rather a crossroad – an intersection. Big tall trees with ever green leaves to be seen right in front as the sunlight is trying it’s best to pierce through. And now I have access to four directions – art gallery to my top right, Museum station to my top left, CBD to my left, St Mary’s Cathedral to my right and finally the Australian museum is in the corner to my lower right.
As I was heading towards the city following the footpath on my left, there I saw her coming towards me from opposite direction wearing a sunglass – relaxed and slow. I am heading her way and she is to mine. In about a minute or so she was right in front and all I had to do was to wave my hand to get her attention and say “Hi – can I take a photo of yours. It’s for a project”
“Sure” – she replied. And then I told her what I was planning to do and in about a minute we started walking together towards one of the nearby places.
So, here is Esmee de la rambelje (the surname is “humbelz” as she pronounced) born in Holland with French/Spanish lineage and coming to Sydney several years back for doing an acting course. And now aspiring to become an actress as she has finished her studies recently.
We talked about her cat – six years old Gatsby named after a movie by Leonardo DiCaprio. One thing that became apparent that she loves to watch movies besides art. During our chat I once jokingly said “Oh my god! you’re a movie junkie!” at which we both laughed. While I intercepted her few minutes back, she was actually heading to the Art gallery of NSW as she mentioned later.
When I asked “So, which kind of roles you would love to play?”
“Comedy” was the response and the role she fantasizes of playing as an actress is that of the movie “Thor”.
As I followed it up by saying “So, you had a crush on him, right?” (On the actor of the movie Thor).
“No” she replied with a coy smile on her face.
“So, who is your crush then?”
“Enrique” – Spanish singer Enrique Iglesias who was very popular almost a decade or so ago.
As we walked to some other spots for a few more photos, she recommended a movie called “coda”. The family of deaf people with a seventeen (17)-year-old – the only person capable of hearing – who is the translator of the family.
We wrapped up few minutes later as she was about to go to the art gallery but before that we had one more thing to do – have some fun together. When I asked, “can you do some funny faces?” she replied “I love it” as I showed some of my collections of those moments where I let it loose to the extent, I wouldn’t otherwise had it been not for this project or passion for people photography.
Fun – one thing that never runs short of – that never receives a “rejection” from anyone – that never lets you down at any moment – even when working on a project where you must be ready for rejections at every moment. In fact, nowadays I seem like I am enjoying those rejections too. It’s kinda like a drug, a pleasure – “rejection” pleasure. The more rejections you have the more exciting it gets, the more colorful the story becomes – the challenge, the thrill and who knows where it ends.
