#77 Salieri, I am NOT!

A picture is worth a thousand words. The description I have on my blog Welcome section is 148 words long. The picture below sums it up completely, accurately and in the most succinct way possible. May be not thousand words, but you get my drift.

The above image was taken by my wife in Malmo, Sweden on our recent trip. The bridge was momentarily empty, and she asked me to rush to the middle of the bridge and start walking towards her. As I was walking towards her, a colorful bird flew by and immediately drew my attention. She captures the moment that is otherwise a distraction to what she had in mind. This is one of my favorite pictures in general and of mine in particular. I tweaked the image as is my wont, but Jaya asked me why, implying there is no need for it. So I kept the original as she captured.

I have reproduced the Welcome page on my blog here.

I am a serious enthusiast who enjoys photography and find taking pictures very therapeutic and calming. I enjoy experimenting various techniques and genre and enjoy all of them equally. That makes me an amateur (literally – Ama:love tuer: one who) of photography. I am the first one to admit that composition is not my (strong) forte and I usually practice spray and pray technique. It seemed to have worked so far. My photo gallery is a curated list of photos used in the articles. I have rather a large collection on Flickr (https://www.flickr.com/photos/bigsur/). I do owe it to my family, friends and the forum members of couple of fora, who have provided me advise, feedback, support and more importantly indulged me. Though started on a whim, I have developed a strong cathexis toward this blog and endeavor.

When Jaya shared that image, I immediately fell in love with it, not necessarily because of the subject :-), but the timing, composition and what it conveyed (at the least to me). I was blown away by her spontaneous creative burst, asking me to walk back to the middle of the bridge, and want me to walk towards her. I did not see other pictures she took but this is one of series of pictures she took and in my humble opinion, she captured the essence of my photography passion, and you are forgiven to think it is an obsession of mine.

When I first saw the photo, my reactions were ambivalent. On one hand, I was amazed by creative eye, and sense of timing with which Jaya took that photo. On the other hand, a tinge of envy came over me, not to mention a smidgen of frustration with myself at the lack of such talent. Yes, I am the self-proclaimed photographer with thousands of images under my belt, but I hardly had any in my collection that would convey a context in such a poetic and succinct way.

At that moment on that bridge in Malmo, Sweden, all I could think was the emotional angst that Salieri felt as depicted in the movie Amadeus (Amadeus (film) – Wikipedia). While the truth may not be close to how it was portrayed in the movie, but couple of things come close to my personal experiences. Salieri liked music but was forbidden to play by his father. I was interested in photography in my childhood. I owned a point and shoot camera (Agfa Click II, anyone?) but was seriously discouraged to pursue the hobby, all thanks to the financial misadventure in photography, of my first cousin’s husband. From Salieri’s point of view, Mozart was a prodigy, but Mozart’s Laissez-faire attitude and ease with which he composed and played music was a source of angst for Salieri. Here he was applying himself with utmost commitment and there was Mozart who breezes through life. That is exactly how I felt for a few moments.

Yes, Salieri, I am not. I haven’t spent my life suffering from that inferiority complex. But for a few moments, Salieri became relatable to how I felt. Well, inspired by her shot, I tried one similar in concept (at least I thought so) few days later. Great location, and very good light. But still, you can see for yourself why I felt like Salieri for a moment.

This is not about me getting jealous of my wife, I hasten to add, and that too emphatically. My reaction was all about a photographer who has been at the craft for so long and still feels has a long way to go. You work hard, apply very diligently towards the craft and then just like that, right in front of your eyes (no pun intended) your favorite image is captured, no fancy camera, no special lens, and just an eye for the subject and great sense of timing. An anagnorisis moment indeed.

I presume when one has more appreciation than talent for a craft, one has to embrace the bromide “progress, not perfection”, as the protagonist says, in a romcom I watched recently. Or is this just a sciamachy – A fascinating concept of fighting with shadows.

The term ‘sciamachy’ might sound peculiar, but it captures a fascinating concept of battling with shadows. Originating from ancient Greek, it reflects our tendency to engage in conflicts that may not exist in reality, much like how one might shadowbox. This word often pops up in discussions around philosophy and literature, where the focus is on the futility of certain arguments or conflicts. It’s a reminder to many that not every fight is worth having, especially those against imaginary adversaries!