Hardly profound, you might say - but here's the thing - not only was it not about just peeling an orange, midway through I had become one with the orange, could smell it, feel it, anticipate its sweetness, damn near taste it.
I finished it with an irresistible urge for fresh citrus fruit and I don't even particularly like citrus fruit, fresh or otherwise. Writing, I'm reminded, can be profound without being about profound - but it took a third reading before I could bypass the nearly sensual imagery of her words and discover the subtext. If you want to know that, you can read it for yourself (www.inthesamevein.blogspot.com) but if I were you, I'd have an orange on hand for when you're done - you're going to want one.
I like to think that I can do with pictures what she can do with words - capture the essence of a moment as well as the spirit or passion behind it. I do very little traditional or posed photography, primarily because it tends to be static and there are always unspoken expectations involved. I have a truly limited gift for setting up a shot, but I hope, the natural instinct to anticipate and wait for the moment on stage will never fail me. The music is my orange - raw, immediate, filled with sweetness and abandon. If I leave the bar with only a single image that speaks to me, be it a wink, a smile, a grimace or a casual guitar move - then I'm pleased with myself. If you or my subject see what I see or are moved by it, then I've accomplished what I set out to do.
It's hard to go far wrong if you do a little of what makes you happy each day.
So pick that six string, write that lyric or essay, press that shutter or peel that fruit. Become one with your passion and you'll find yourself. Even an orange has a story to tell.
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