After being on the course five weeks i have learnt enough to know that no photo is simple. Sometimes i feel as if i'm ripping apart a photo to discover its meaning, why the photographer chose certain aspects, the lighting choice, the film, the lens, position, person, object etc... it just goes on and on. I have learnt a lot already about photography and feel myself taking more notice of the photos seen on a daily basis, noticing people in the street who would make an amazing photo. However sometimes i feel like we've discovered and found all aspects a photo, ripped it apart to find it's meaning but forgotten to admire it first. To me, thats crucial.
For my body unit it has to be in Black and white which i am pleased about. In general i prefer black and white photography especially for portraits. I have been asked to create a portrait of someone who lives in the medway area, an individual of our community. However the person must be unknown to myself.
At first when i read the brief i thought it was mad to think i'd have to ask a stranger to accompany me to uni so i can take photos of them. However yesterday was the first time i realised how good a photo it can be, the person will make it. A stranger to begin with yes; but towards the end a friend they will be.
While waiting for the bus yesturday i was listening to my ipod when an old woman in front of me started swearing so loud i could hear her over the music i was listening too. Not only that but when she realised by my shocked face she started laughing, said sorry and carried on walking. I sat down like my usual routine and began thinking of all the things i had to do that day, when the same swearing woman appeared next to me. Chatting away like there was no tomorrow.
At first i thought she was going to complain about the bus being late and distract me of my daydream for five minutes, before she returned to silence like the ordinary people have done while waiting for the bus, but she didn't. I ended up turning my ipod off and putting it away in my bag because there was no point listening to it, it was rude not to listen to this old woman.
She talked for the whole 20 minutes we were waiting, telling me all the stories she's done the past summer, including a brighton trip to which she described being amazing and great fun, telling me the resturants she went to and the lunches she's had there. She continued to talk about her son who she sees every now and then, a baby that her friend has had and how her life has been after living in Strood.
To be quite honest, i didnt get a word in. As much as she refered to me i made comments on her trips to brighton and helped continue the converstation but for some reason when ever a stranger talks to anyone you look forward to them stopping. i reckon its human nature. To begin with i was hoping it too, it wasn't until I asked who she went to Brighton with i realised.
"oh on my own. my husband died not so long ago."
I realsied that the stories she's been telling be the last 20 minutes were all because she had no one else to tell, no one to share the fun times of Brighton with or share the excitemnet of her grandson. She was just getting on with her life making the most of things. I already had a new respect for the old woman who only wanted to talk to someone. As she continued to tell other stories i felt a kind of sympathy for her, i initially i wanted her to leave me alone but now i wanted her to be noticed. Be known that after every story she told, she was still smiling.
It got to a point where she said she was waiting for her friend who should be on our bus, if not, then she'd wait for the next one. Our bus arrived, i said goodbye and got on. Her friend wasn't on the bus; she sat where i had been sitting the whole time she was there. As it drove away i smiled and waved goodbye, she smiled back at me.
I wish i asked to take her photo for this project. A stranger with a hidden story, who just wanted to be heard.
I haven't seen her since.
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