How it all started

School is couple of steps from my house, about fifteen minutes of walk. Chilly morning of Tbilisi isn’t a good time for walking around, but I don’t care, at least I can get up later then any other kids do; nice to get a little more sleep. My way back is all same, without any twists or alterations from the set course. Everyday path lies right through the little playground. You know one of those green spots with couple of trees, few ponds and little sandboxes. Roaming this park in the morning is not a pleasant thing to do and freeze isn’t a major trouble in this case; Couple of years ago, they constructed small benches all around the park…I guess, quite foolish thing to do. Since then, it transformed into a constant shelter for all the homeless of the city. Don’t you think that I have something against them, on the contrary! But indeed it’s fright some to walk among drunk, snoring oldies who lay there. However, it’s better to commit bravery and go right through it, than to seek some leeway and loose minutes and even seconds of precious sleep.

It’s amazing how morning scene changes along the day. Only few hours passed, and when I come back, I don’t see any broken bottles. Garbage is all cleaned. Light shifts a gloomy sight of the morning, everything looks fresh and alive; pleasant faces move around and elevated mood swallows us all; it seems as if you are entering completely new world. Nevertheless it’s all the same: same green benches, same road and trees.

I forgot to mention one important thing here: once oldies depart, little kids deluge this playground. They make terrible noise, endlessly running around playing same games over and over; fighting kicking and playing again. It’s quite interesting to observe these little creatures. Probably I was not much different, when I was a kid. But that’s not the point now…

It was a usual day: gloomy morning and even gloomier school period. Coming home, tired and little bit sleepy, I approached beloved path. Nothing unusual attracted my attention; except one thing, I didn’t hear that familiar noises kids commonly make – playground was all abandoned! I didn’t think much about it and moved on… and then, I saw a scene that had a huge impact upon my conscience. Imagine, bunch of kids standing motionless. Everything around them serene and still, you could easily take it for a picture. Slight breeze moved their hair and that was the only sign of life. Their eyes fixed, no one mentioned me. I approached them slowly, not to distort that magical silence. As I came closer, I traced their eyes, kept my breath and looked to the same side. Water in the pond was crystal clean. Light reflected from the water and echoed in all directions. There at the edge of the pond, stood a little girl. Her chicks all red, one brow raised she was looking at us attentively from behind the round glasses. Suddenly, one of the little boys left the group and swiftly moved towards her. Girl looked angry, but the boy was smiling… It was a matter of few seconds; He kissed little girl on the cheek and ran away as fast as he could.

That was the most touching scene I ever encountered in my life. What a shame one cannot take pictures out of my mind! It was than, when I first thought about taking pictures and photography in general. There so many beautiful things around us, our world is colorful in many ways. From than on, I don’t depart with my camera, always have it around ready to point and shoot. Since then, I took lots of successful photos, but I never stop thinking about those little guys… For it was my first inspiration, firs step towards my hobby.

P.S. I wrote this down very long time ago, so that I would not forget… I believe 6-7 years passed since then and my love for photography has only grown. From my current perspective, I think photography taught me appreciation of small things that otherwise would go unnoticed.

Everything around us is beautiful, we just need to open eyes and learn to see.

I Love the World

Filed Under: Personal journal

Tags: conceptual, expressive photos, music video, my life, photography, sandro, short story