An old time procrastinator’s desperate grab for an iPad

I was very kindly nominated to be part of the Capture the Colour competition right from the very start of the project. True to my style, I just had to wait til the very last night to prepare an entry.

Choosing pictures was not an easy task. I now have over 100,000 of them. What is a travel photo? If it is one taken while traveling, then it does not help to narrow the pile at all. I have gazillions of doors, windows, arrangements, bridges, buildings, views, parks and inanimate objects, but when I purify the subject of travel down to its delightful essence, it is simply about the people. The people we travel with, the people we meet, the people we make any type of connection with. They shape the experience unlike anything else can – both positively and negatively.

As soon as I decided on my motto “It is all about the people, stupid”, the problem turned upside down, because if there is something I don’t have enough of, it is portraits. Due to my own dislike of strangers taking my picture, I am very mindful of doing it to others and I end up lacking exactly what I want to document from this experience of ours.

Having narrowed down the choice to pictures with people, of certain color theme  and if at all possible no plants for green, I started searching for, well, Godot.  If the judges are able to get past the fact that I stupidly went with my weakest point, generously accept the fact that I cannot afford to bribe them with an ice cream, maybe what will get them past the last hurdle is knowing how sufficiently jealous my man will be if I get a new iPad. Oh, boy! Oh, boy, oh, boy, oh, BOY!  A very unflattering smile spreads across my face just thinking about it… I hope no one is around to take a picture of it.

Lets rumble!

Green

Penang, Malaysia

Traveling with children means that we spend entirely too long in various playgrounds around the world. They are like little pauses from life where the international language of childhood is widely spoken no matter in which country one is.
We were invited to this  one by a family of six that became part of a favorite memory from our time in Malaysia. We spent the day in the pool near by and waiting for the children to enjoy their bubble of pure pleasure.

______________________________________

White

Somewhere between Guilin and Chengdu, China

In the 20 odd hours earlier, this girl was just a shadow around for our most horrible of transport experiences thus far – heat, no cold drinks, filth over previously white surfaces and the mind numbing attack from the never ending tunnels whistling past. Towards the last few hours of the train journey she and her big sister (now wearing her mom’s high heeled shoes) came into our torture chamber and I had the absolute pleasure of watching them play with my children.  Laughter entered the space again. And yet, her expression barely changed.

______________________________________

Blue

Budapest, Hungary

Waiting out the blue hour. After a day of chasing old favorite resting grounds of the locals  in the outskirts of Budapest, ducking rains and walking too much, the kids seemed less enthusiastic with my wish to wait and take night shots of one of my favorite buildings.  I love this photo, because it is realistic about the way children take on travel–there is only so much that the Danube and the amazing parliament building can keep their attention.

______________________________________

Yellow

Amritsar, India

One thing that I will never forget are the eyes of all the people in India.  There was so much hardship and poverty that making pictures of the people always felt like I was taking even the little bit they had. I don’t have many portraits from our time there, even though people were everywhere.
This boy was looking at me from the time I spotted the tuk tuk, deep knowing eyes straight at me. But it was right at the end that I decided to raise my camera. He did not flinch. I smiled afterwords and only then did he shyly hide back inside.

______________________________________

Red

Jodhpur, India

The object of my interest was the woman on the left, the wife of one of the brothers that had invited us to this big Indian wedding. Beautiful woman that I had admired for days, now in her festive best, managing to outshine all the other sparkling ones around, hands down. As I was struggling with the lack of light, being secretive and getting frustrated, I noticed her attention changed direction from the women around her and I followed her eyes. The mystery of why she had that look on her face in regards to the unknown passer by will claw at my curiosity for awhile.

______________________

Now, as required, I would like to nominate, and at the same time beg for forgiveness for the late notice, the following people.  A few of them would win ahead of me anyway, so it is probably for the best that I severely handicap them.

Veli from Imponderabilia

The Dixons family from Meandering around the World

Marianna from Hello Latvia

Sarah from Food Bridge

Mihai and family from Noi6 Around the World

All of them valuable people connections to me.