Chicken soup for the Photographer's soul

'When did you take these photos?' Newton asked abruptly while I was trying to distribute the soup his mother sent in two portions.

Newton was my lanky next door neighbour - No, he was no wizkid in any form of science, but had earned his moniker from gravitating on the floor of my living room every time he came, ignoring my moderately expensive Ikea ottoman sofa. But science or no science, the boy was interested in my photography and often took the role of critic and fan alike.

Today, he was browsing through my photographs taken from a boat cruise a few weeks back which I had happily ignored as I did not get the shot I was looking for. I tried explaining the Newton.

'So it was a whale watching cruise?' he enquired

'Yup...except that I did not get the snaps I desired'

'But some of these are quite good!' The boy was always genuine in his feedback, so I went back to the photos he was parsing.

'But these are not what I wanted!' he still gave me a puzzled look so I explained further, 

'Newton, these are just the fins and humps and tails of the whales, while I wanted headshots  - I wanted the behemoths to leap out of the waters and glisten in the sun while the city shone in the backdrop!'

'...and that's why you have been ignoring this lot?'

I gave a disinterested nod.

'You know, that's your problem - your expectations are always sky high!'

'You need to set the standard, Newton - how else do you aspire if you don't go for perfection!'

'That's great when things are within your control - but when they are not, you end up disappointing yourself. I am sure, you returned from the trip super disappointed?'

I gave a sheepish nod, wondering where he was taking this.

'See, that's the issue of the perfectionist - He forgets when to separate himself from the world which is not his to mould and shape. The world goes by its own rules, loads of them, and most of them are imperfect. This is where Mr. Perfect needs to become Mr. Wise, and make the best of what he gets outside his control - such as this photo..' and he pointed at a snap of the tail of a humpback whale just merging into blue waters while red roofs of the city shoreline made for a bright contrast. 

Suddenly, the photo looked not so bad - in fact, it looked quite a stunner.

Newton saw this in my eyes - sometimes, I think he is a hundred years of age trapped in a child's body just like some fantasy tale. 'You see it, don't you? If your expectations are here...' and he raised his hand above his head, '...you will mostly hate it because Life generally operates here...'  and he brought his hand down to his chest,'...whereas I stay here...' and he lowered his hands further to his knees,'...and suddenly there is beauty in imperfections!'

'Thank you wise man, Got your message!' and I filled his animated hands with a soup bowl, 'I will process these and show you the results'

The lanky teenager slumped on the floor with his soup bowl while I kept staring at the photos on my laptop, remembering some old lines I had once read - How quiet the forest would be, if only the best birds could sing - and mentally made a note to print the best shot as a postcard for a profoundly wise Gandalf next door...

20 December, 2017

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Based on what I call the 'Prashant Syndrome' - named after my friend Prashant who often takes stunner shots but remains disappointed - the perils of being a perfectionist. Yes, even I end up suffering from the same once in a while. Like when I went to shoot whales - figuratively - and ended up getting disappointed as I never got what I wanted. Until, someone like Newton - a friend, a page from a book, a mural on a house, or anything for that matter - passes by, enlightens you and reminds you that nothing in the world is perfect black or white, ever! As for those pics, keep watching this space...