inspired by (among many others listed at the end) Christopher Koch's Antelope Picnic photo series. I think it's the best photo series I've ever seen. he's an awesome photographer/editor. my favourite still:
---
love at first sight,
is definitely ridiculous... but so very, very possible.
we met in a field of maize. but before you go ahead and judge me as mushy and tell me 'yeah-right' or 'that only happens in movies dude...', this is all true so just shut up and listen.
i said we met in a field of maize but i didn't exactly say i was all 'oh, i really should visit some maize field today and pick myself some -- maize', nor was she all stumbling upon a maize field by chance while walking home. as i said, not a fairytale.
we met when Dan (friend) and Isaac (sort-of-friend) called me out for some photography project they were working on, something bout 'love and nature', and i don't wanna sound conceited and all but i, apparently, was the perfect model for them (actually i find myself not that bad looking but that would probably be on the verge of narcissism so forget it). and i thought that since i had nothing to do and since i've always wanted to visit Manors Lakes but hadn't a chance cos' the journey's impossible and i can't drive yet and... since they got me intrigued about this other person they asked to model for them, i might as well go. (i should probably point out that D and I have a good eye so this other individual, which i presume is female, must be quite the stunner. but then again, borderline narcissism.)
the point is, i went.
so at 4am on a shitty Saturday morning i had to drown the shitty phone alarm, wake up in the shitty cold and prepare for the shitty day (i actually didn't think it would be shitty but that's what everyone thinks at 5am in the morning. i suppose.)
anyway... i dressed simple. unbuttoned-shirt with shorts. if you'd think i was gonna be wearing some formal attire in the middle of summer then i guess you're either the kind of photographer who tortures the models or the kind of model who has no common sense at all (in any case, i was told to be dressed for summer).
i know you're probably cursing at me asking me to get a move on and talk about the love and the first sight and the girl and the project but hey, this is my story and i tell it however i want to.
i arrived... early. i'm usually not the sort who gets mad at being the only one early but it was 5.30 in the morning and god was it freezing. i wasn't that angry, though, when the car finally arrived with the promise of breakfast and the mysterious girl. but what got me curious and curiouser (i just had to use this phrase from Alice in Wonderland) was her absence.
i asked and they said she'd meet us there. weird, seeing how Manor Lakes is in the middle of nowhere.
so we drove up there (an hour's drive) while i absorbed all they said about the direction they were looking for and how i was suppose to look 'candid-but-not-unflattering' (exactly the words they said) and ate breakfast.
the sun was amazing when we arrived. the wind made the maize dance and the complete lack of buildings made the sky with its clouds beautiful. probably the most glorious place i've ever been in.
and there she was, or at least i initially thought would be her because well, there weren't anyone else and who'd be crazy enough to come here at 7am, glorious or not. she was among the fields, sort of... dancing as well. i don't know if it was the setting that made me look at everything as though they were perfect but hell, was she beautiful. she was in a floral dress (i've always had a thing for floral dresses) looking all dainty and bashful and ethereal and sultry and gorgeous. but let's just settle on 'gorgeous' because this isn't a shakespearean sonnet.
i made sure she was the other model (don't want any faux pas) before walking up to her while the other two were lugging their equipment.
and the conversation that followed went like this:
me: hey. how're you doing?
she: hi. great. nice day isn't it?
and inside my head i was like: great, now we're talking about the weather. have i nothing better to say?
i nodded and the conversation continued like this:
me: hey, uh, hope it'd be fun working with you. you know, trying to act out their direction and all.
she laughed and i prayed it wasn't at how i phrased my sentence.
she: yeah, likewise. have you done this before? you look like you have.
and she smiled, and i smiled. and then i laughed and said
me: modeling? nah, not really. this is my second time.
she smiled again and nodded and trailed off deeper into the fields. i had no idea what to do. play it cool and stand there or follow her?
anyway, i followed her. but it wasn't the kind of following-you-like-a-watch-dog follow. more like a side-by-side-with-a-stranger's-distance-between-us follow. the point is, i followed.
at this time i honestly had nothing else to say. my head was filled with all these questions but i thought they'd be too lame to ask and i'd ruin whatever image i had before we even became, i don't know, friends?
but then she started speaking:
she: what i like about this place, it's always so... peaceful, you know? like if you come back a year later everything would be the same.
me: yeah. yeah, it is, isn't it?
great, now she needs a robot to agree with everything she says. so i did my best to add in to whatever she said.
me: i've never been here. ever. i've always knew it was a beautiful place from what everyone said but haven't really got to chance to come. so i guess i was pretty lucky when they asked me to help out with their project.
great, great. now she needs a rambling robot.
she: i think if you'd really wanted to visit here then you would have been here before this. wouldn't you?
she has put that quite bluntly but i wasn't exactly offended. more inclined to agree with her, actually. if i really wanted to come, i would have, wouldn't i? after all, it would seem a little whiny and pathetic to complain about wanting to go somewhere but never finding the means to. anyway, i laughed it off and said:
me: yeah, i suppose so. never really thought about that.
and then the conversation slumps into a silence again. except this time it wasn't awkward. it was a those kind of silences where one uses to take in their surroundings. and then, for some godawful reason, i blurted out.
me: you're really beautiful.
i blushed. shit did i blushed. was i possessed or something? could i even use 'possession' as an excuse for my sort-of-creepy words?
but then the thought of having an excuse swept away when she replied, almost playfully:
she: you're not that bad-looking yourself.
and she blushed too. at least i think she did, what with the sunlight and all. for all i know she was just flushed from the surging temperature.
now there came the awkward silence.
D: hey you two! we're ready for the shoot yeah?
and without saying anything we walked back to them.
I: so you guys ready?
we didn't say anything. i nodded and grinned.
I: okay...
so we returned to where she and i were before we were (interrupted) told to come back. the sun there was great. i guess. i'm no photographer but light is good right?
anyway... it started out a little awkward. since, you know, we were a 'couple' but wasn't exactly one. heck, i didn't even know her name.
D: great, great. could you guys get a little closer you think?
always the encouraging one.
i made sure she was the other model (don't want any faux pas) before walking up to her while the other two were lugging their equipment.
and the conversation that followed went like this:
me: hey. how're you doing?
she: hi. great. nice day isn't it?
and inside my head i was like: great, now we're talking about the weather. have i nothing better to say?
i nodded and the conversation continued like this:
me: hey, uh, hope it'd be fun working with you. you know, trying to act out their direction and all.
she laughed and i prayed it wasn't at how i phrased my sentence.
she: yeah, likewise. have you done this before? you look like you have.
and she smiled, and i smiled. and then i laughed and said
me: modeling? nah, not really. this is my second time.
she smiled again and nodded and trailed off deeper into the fields. i had no idea what to do. play it cool and stand there or follow her?
anyway, i followed her. but it wasn't the kind of following-you-like-a-watch-dog follow. more like a side-by-side-with-a-stranger's-distance-between-us follow. the point is, i followed.
at this time i honestly had nothing else to say. my head was filled with all these questions but i thought they'd be too lame to ask and i'd ruin whatever image i had before we even became, i don't know, friends?
but then she started speaking:
she: what i like about this place, it's always so... peaceful, you know? like if you come back a year later everything would be the same.
me: yeah. yeah, it is, isn't it?
great, now she needs a robot to agree with everything she says. so i did my best to add in to whatever she said.
me: i've never been here. ever. i've always knew it was a beautiful place from what everyone said but haven't really got to chance to come. so i guess i was pretty lucky when they asked me to help out with their project.
great, great. now she needs a rambling robot.
she: i think if you'd really wanted to visit here then you would have been here before this. wouldn't you?
she has put that quite bluntly but i wasn't exactly offended. more inclined to agree with her, actually. if i really wanted to come, i would have, wouldn't i? after all, it would seem a little whiny and pathetic to complain about wanting to go somewhere but never finding the means to. anyway, i laughed it off and said:
me: yeah, i suppose so. never really thought about that.
and then the conversation slumps into a silence again. except this time it wasn't awkward. it was a those kind of silences where one uses to take in their surroundings. and then, for some godawful reason, i blurted out.
me: you're really beautiful.
i blushed. shit did i blushed. was i possessed or something? could i even use 'possession' as an excuse for my sort-of-creepy words?
but then the thought of having an excuse swept away when she replied, almost playfully:
she: you're not that bad-looking yourself.
and she blushed too. at least i think she did, what with the sunlight and all. for all i know she was just flushed from the surging temperature.
now there came the awkward silence.
D: hey you two! we're ready for the shoot yeah?
and without saying anything we walked back to them.
I: so you guys ready?
we didn't say anything. i nodded and grinned.
I: okay...
so we returned to where she and i were before we were (interrupted) told to come back. the sun there was great. i guess. i'm no photographer but light is good right?
anyway... it started out a little awkward. since, you know, we were a 'couple' but wasn't exactly one. heck, i didn't even know her name.
D: great, great. could you guys get a little closer you think?
always the encouraging one.
I: not closer. chemistry! at least try to pretend you're going to die for each other!
always the annoying, quick-tempered one.
we did get more comfortable with one another after a couple of takes and i could almost feel like we were a couple. 'haha', i know.
we did jump shots, single shots and couple shots, shots where we were lying among the golden maize, where she laid on me (cuddling?), where we were about to kiss, basically two people in love. and the cool thing was, none of these poses were facetious or artificial or whatever you called it. they just looked like two people, in love, no cameras, just two people in their own world.
the shoot lasted for... two and a half hours? there were periods where the clouds shrouded the sun so we just wandered around and checked out the stills. but it was fun, a hell lot of it.
at the last take, i don't know who shouted 'and we're done', but we were, i had no idea what to say to her. 'good job'? 'thanks'?... 'see you around'?
but she made the first (or last) move (damn).
she: so... i'll see you around?
should have said that. and i said:
me: yeah. i guess so.
and i smiled. it was a stupid thing to say. i mean, it wasn't. it was a stupid thing to say and just leave it at that. who the hell says 'i guess so' to someone whose name you don't even know? that's stupid.
so when i realized my stupidity (which was when we were walking back), i said,
me: hey, i didn't catch your name.
she: no, you didn't.
and i thought she'd leave it at that (hence, suggesting i was rude to have not inquired in the first place).
me: uhhh.
she: it's Cheri.
awesome.
me: ah, vous êtes français?
awesome for me.
she: que ma mère et grand-mère.
me: cool. Pouvons-nous revenir à parler anglais maintenant?
she laughed.
she: whatever you say. how'd you know French?
me: my parents made me take lessons when i was young... ten years old, maybe? dad said it's for swooning girls. mom said something bout' 'cognitive development'.
she smiled.
she: i see its worked.
me: which part of it?
i smiled. she laughed. it felt like we were alone for a moment (which we happened to be, since the other two were buried in the car's trunk.
me: how're you getting home? how did you get here anyway?
she: i dri--
a horn blew. i swore in my head.
she: i drove here.
she pointed at a car not far off.
me: oh... well, i guess this is goodbye?
always dramatic.
she: maybe.
and she gave one of those sly smiles. i smiled back. yay.
she: i will definitely see you again, Connor Austin.
woah.
me: how did you kno--
another horn. another swear word popping up.
she: you'd better go. long drive.
me: yeah, i'd better.
and just like that, i believe in falling in love with a total stranger.
p.s, no, a carrier pigeon was not involved in us meeting after this. i would be a total fool to put my faith in a bird. Dan had her number.
--
inspirations:
TheCHRISKOCH photo series: Antelope Picnic,
&,
for the atmosphere,
&,
for the love,
&,
the writing style for Will Grayson, will grayson by John Green.
No comments:
Post a Comment