Frame by Frame

There comes a day when you get to action cleaning and dusting up the house. Thats when you do go near those shelves and drawers that didnt exist all these days.

Well, thats what I did over the weekend and no, the house is not sparkly clean. While de-cluttering one of the drawers, those stack of photo albums beckoned me. I knew if I fell for it; my resolution of cleaning up the shelves and drawers that day after procrastinating for months will break. But it was too tempting not to pick those stack of photo albums. And there! the flood and tsunami and hurricane of memories rushed......Those were the days...

Simple days. Our lives were simple, our needs simpler. Or was it? But I was a kid and everything seemed so simple. The very act of posing for a family picture itself. It was an orchestrated process. The best clothes on, polished shoes, oiled and well combed hair, face powder and finally not a smile on the lips, but a serious look. The drama reached its crescendo with the photographer's arrival. A skill mastered after several attempts to pretend totally unperturbed of a camera. Well, your heart almost skips few beats shows the innate consciousness of the big black box present right in front of you. No! but dont look there. The look of unconcern took the most elaborate preparation. Look casual is what the photographer would say. Are you kidding me?

Ready-1-2-3...The moment the click of the big black box goes off was a moment of huge relief. The huge funny grin dropping back to that natural smile, shoulders slumped down, beads of sweat in the palm wiped on the sides of the shirt and skirts and the attention position broken. After that is the waiting time. The photos and negatives would arrive after a week or so. Anticipation and excitement. The brown envelope will be opened with care to reveal the frames in negatives and finally a few best prints chosen from the best.

The glossy prints would grab the attention of the entire family - moving from one hand to another. Appreciation, admiration, a few comments and ultimate satisfaction. And then, the prints would be safely encased behind a transparent plastic page of a photo album; to be secured in a cupboard as a family heirloom for generations to come. The best ones might end up being framed and find itself at the mantlepiece of the living room like a prize.

Like this one - though its a cutout of Rajnikanth.

Out of your reverie!!

Back to the present. Everyone has a camera and so everyone is a self proclaimed photographer. I dont feel animosity towards that unlike few who swear by who can be called as a "real photographer". That warrants a separate post. But there are times when its super annoying.

The excitement to capture every mundane thing is life deserves applause since people do seem to appreciate simple things in life - like eating an apple. Err...yeah. God bless you girl! You are the few lucky one out in the world who is blessed to afford and eat an apple. But taking a picture of yourself eating an apple? Is that so important? Thats ok; its you and your apple. But expecting likes and praises? Aahh we all crave for attention isnt it? Its so orgasmic!  How about adjusting the frame, the filter, the lighting all in your smart phone while others are patiently holding that smile on their face in the name of taking a group portrait?

Photography has moved from being an art to a tool now. And thats not bad at all. Everyone has a chance to freeze a golden moment from their life and everyone pauses to notice the beauty around to capture it in their camera if not for anything else. It has evolved from a defined precise moment to seamless never ceasing means to capture everything and anything. Shots after shots - whimsical stored in your handheld device never to be revisited again instead of a few frame by frame moments encased in those albums to be revisited and felt nostalgic about once in a while.

Ah! now I need to take a selfie with Gypsy. I'm off!