again. This black-and-white is softer in texture and feels warm although no color lends to it. The subjects this time are two boys, with one maybe a good bit older than the other. Both have dark shaggy hair with their bare backs to the camera. They each are holding a surfboard under the outer arm, and the older brother’s right arm is draped around the younger brother’s shoulder. The image conveys they are brothers—the older one looks down towards the younger one in devotion with the younger looking up admiringly to the older. More time passes than I realize as I finally move to the last photo.
This photo also summons a whole other set of emotions. At first I think to look away from the intimacy captured as though I am imposing on a very private moment. This image captures a man’s well-formed bare chest with a woman pressing her lips over his heart. Her very light hair is in a romantic updo that seems to be slowly escaping, obscuring the view of her face. Her only exposed feature is her lips. The photo begins at the man’s shoulders and ends at his waist where the woman’s delicate hand rests. His hand gently holds her to him by the back of her head.
“You get lost back here?” JP whispers, causing me to jump anyway. This man’s voice is too rugged to hold a whisper properly. I turn around and see him sitting in a chair by the door. I’ve been completely wrapped up in the hidden stories of these photos, I have no idea how long he’s been here watching me.
I point to the photo in front of me. “Umm… Wow…. This photo is pretty…sensual.” I want to say erotic, but blush at the thought of using such a word.
JP stands beside me and admires the picture. “It is at first glance, but if that’s all you’ve seen in all this time you’ve been standing here studying it, then you’ve missed it.” He nudges me a bit closer. “Look again.”
I do and find the woman’s lip resting on a thick scar. “I can’t imagine what would cause that. Some type of cut, maybe—”
JP huffs out in annoyance. “Don’t focus on what’s behind the scar. Focus on what’s before it.”
I look again for another long spell. “The scar brought them together,” I murmur as I look on.
“Something like that.” JP answers and becomes quiet for a while before asking, “You realize you’ve been back here for over an hour?”
“These photos have so much to tell.” I shrug.
“This is my family album for the next two weeks.” He motions to the wall and walks over to the pregnant one and explains each picture briefly. “This is of my younger sister when she was pregnant. It was a day at the beach. She was watching her husband surf and I was watching her.” He points to the baby. “This is my handsome nephew she delivered a few weeks after the first photo was taken. He’s the man all the way.” He chuckles before explaining, “Not even three shots into the photo shoot, he peed all over his dad’s hands.”
“I love both of them. I love how you captured her silhouette only. And how you explain the dad’s pride with only showing his hands.”
JP nods his head in appreciation before pointing to the next photo. “These are of my hands. I set up the camera on a tripod and set the timer. I stayed up all night playing with different angles, not satisfied with any of them. I gave up when the sun showed up and didn’t even look at the shots for a few weeks. When I did, this one spoke to me.”
“It makes me hurt,” I comment as I continue to stare at the hands.
“Hurt?”
I glance over and find JP looking at me curiously. “I feel hurt when I look at it. Is that what you were trying to achieve?”
He looks back at the photo and shakes his head. “I don’t know…” Without another comment, JP steps over to the brothers. “And this one? What does this one make you feel?”
“Much happier.” I smile over at him and he rewards me with a faint one of his own.
“These two are also my nephews. This was
This photo also summons a whole other set of emotions. At first I think to look away from the intimacy captured as though I am imposing on a very private moment. This image captures a man’s well-formed bare chest with a woman pressing her lips over his heart. Her very light hair is in a romantic updo that seems to be slowly escaping, obscuring the view of her face. Her only exposed feature is her lips. The photo begins at the man’s shoulders and ends at his waist where the woman’s delicate hand rests. His hand gently holds her to him by the back of her head.
“You get lost back here?” JP whispers, causing me to jump anyway. This man’s voice is too rugged to hold a whisper properly. I turn around and see him sitting in a chair by the door. I’ve been completely wrapped up in the hidden stories of these photos, I have no idea how long he’s been here watching me.
I point to the photo in front of me. “Umm… Wow…. This photo is pretty…sensual.” I want to say erotic, but blush at the thought of using such a word.
JP stands beside me and admires the picture. “It is at first glance, but if that’s all you’ve seen in all this time you’ve been standing here studying it, then you’ve missed it.” He nudges me a bit closer. “Look again.”
I do and find the woman’s lip resting on a thick scar. “I can’t imagine what would cause that. Some type of cut, maybe—”
JP huffs out in annoyance. “Don’t focus on what’s behind the scar. Focus on what’s before it.”
I look again for another long spell. “The scar brought them together,” I murmur as I look on.
“Something like that.” JP answers and becomes quiet for a while before asking, “You realize you’ve been back here for over an hour?”
“These photos have so much to tell.” I shrug.
“This is my family album for the next two weeks.” He motions to the wall and walks over to the pregnant one and explains each picture briefly. “This is of my younger sister when she was pregnant. It was a day at the beach. She was watching her husband surf and I was watching her.” He points to the baby. “This is my handsome nephew she delivered a few weeks after the first photo was taken. He’s the man all the way.” He chuckles before explaining, “Not even three shots into the photo shoot, he peed all over his dad’s hands.”
“I love both of them. I love how you captured her silhouette only. And how you explain the dad’s pride with only showing his hands.”
JP nods his head in appreciation before pointing to the next photo. “These are of my hands. I set up the camera on a tripod and set the timer. I stayed up all night playing with different angles, not satisfied with any of them. I gave up when the sun showed up and didn’t even look at the shots for a few weeks. When I did, this one spoke to me.”
“It makes me hurt,” I comment as I continue to stare at the hands.
“Hurt?”
I glance over and find JP looking at me curiously. “I feel hurt when I look at it. Is that what you were trying to achieve?”
He looks back at the photo and shakes his head. “I don’t know…” Without another comment, JP steps over to the brothers. “And this one? What does this one make you feel?”
“Much happier.” I smile over at him and he rewards me with a faint one of his own.
“These two are also my nephews. This was
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