Saturday, April 03, 2010
Beijing, 798 Art District
My camera took this little picture of a nameless, body-less man entirely of its own volition.
I still remember how chilly it was the day I went wandering around the half-empty streets and alleyways of 798 with 4 layers of clothes on and my face almost wrapped into a scarf.
I was wearing faux leather gloves (courtesy of mom) but found that they got into the way of taking pictures. With them on, I couldn't quite control the movement of my fingers - it was a struggle just to press the damn button! And all thoughts of artistic framing, angling, positioning, lighting etc. were literally sucked out of my brain into an icy vacuum of air every time the wind blew.
So in between ripping off my gloves for a shot and cursing myself while jamming them back on the next second to protect my fingers from the scariness that is frostbite, I had no idea what I was doing.
By the time I was (finally) warm and rested back in my hotel room, I revisited the day's haul... and found lots of pictures on my camera that I don't remember taking. They were all pictures of the ground or of the sky. And I realised that my fingers, in shock from the cold, must have accidentally pressed the camera's 'shoot' button while I wasn't able to keep track of them.
I really liked the pictures.
I liked them because they are totally unplanned, unexpected, quirky.
I liked them because they showed me an upside down and sideways world that I was completely unaware of.
I liked them because they felt like glimpses into the realm of little things and moments that I had entirely lost and overlooked in time.
I liked them because they made me happy.
Strange as it is,
Very.