Spotlight On An Ordinary Day

There’s nothing quite like volunteer work, is there? Today I sat/lay for a student while she learned how to apply eyelash extensions! I woke up to the pitter-patter of raindrops on the bedroom window this morning. This did not augur well, but I manned up and decided to embrace the day! Good inspiration for the 6th day of my 365-day Challenge. It turned out to be the automatic irrigation system, but never one to be discouraged, I made my first photograph right then and there, the wet windowpane and a drop or two on the handle.

The extension exercise ran until almost midday, which put me behind schedule; my plan to do a self-portrait with the new lashes didn’t happen, as I spent the afternoon in a nostalgic mood, sifting through old photographs and reflecting on how photography has changed. The quality, size, developing techniques, and the paper used haven’t really stood the test of time, but then, it could've been our budget at the time. It might even have been my old Instamatic.

Small, blurry, and faded pictures of my children growing up. Fortunately, my memory took the best pictures, and the photographs are just a reminder and a way to pull memories together. I loved looking back at what I thought at the time was a “Kodak moment”; they don’t have much “artistic” value, but they certainly made me smile and laugh out loud. The joys of just digging them out of the Kist, seeing them rain out of the old albums, are nostalgic and make me wonder whether our grandbabies will have the privilege of having printed photographs when they grow up. I have bags of negatives. Do I keep them for posterity, I wonder?

This Throwback Thursday nostalgia reminded me of a beautiful photograph of my aunt, taken in 1954 at the Kenilworth racecourse in Cape Town. It was published in the Cape Times, and she managed to find a copy I now cherish. The quality is superb: thick, beautiful paper and ink that have held their colour and integrity for all these years, showing that some things were better in the old days.

I like to have an idea in my head about what I’m going to shoot, and today I didn’t, so as the sun was setting, I dashed around looking for something to shoot. My first choice was my Canon 100mm macro lens; it’s fast, has a good aperture, and gives a different perspective.

Necessity is the mother of invention, so I used my tripod and a very slow shutter speed to capture water pouring into a glass bowl. I experimented by adding dishwashing liquid, olive oil, glycerine, and crayons beneath the bowl as backgrounds. When those failed, I grabbed three different nail varnishes, shook them up, stirred everything, and took shots with a slow shutter speed. I like the abstract effects, colours, and patterns, which echo Pollock's idea that 'it doesn’t matter how the paint is put on, as long as something is said.'

With lash extensions and all, I agree with Coco Chanel, who said, “Nature gives you the face you have at twenty. Life shapes the face you have at thirty. But at fifty you get the face you deserve.” I wonder whether wishes come true if you wish on a false eyelash. Two have just drifted down like feathers onto my keyboard. I'd hate to wake up looking like a burnt-out drag queen.