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Show & Tell: Senior moment

Maybe it’s the influence of my last post that triggered me to share this photo I took of a scene in Budapest many years ago.

Budapest was the consolation prize I mentioned here, which includes the bridge that first bonded me to Cassandra.

I wonder what the man is waiting for? What kind of life has he had? What has he seen? Has he loved and been loved?

The photo has been hanging on our wall for a dozen years, and the light has not been good to it. Still, I hope you can see the haunting quality in the image that I do.

See the cool stuff my classmates are showing and telling over at Mel’s Show & Tell.

0 Responses

  1. I love moments like this. I think it’s important to be aware of the people around us.

    There always is that wonder about someone’s story. And I’m sure it’s reciprocal.

  2. Maybe the tones are different IRL, but I see expectation, not haunting. Either way, it’s a great shot!

  3. Maybe he’s just waiting for the time to stop. Waiting for his life to end. I know it’s weird, it’s just many old people are like that. I love the picture, by the way.

  4. Great photo!

    When I look at someone and really become aware of him or her, I wonder what the story is behind what I see.

    What would his or her best love story sound like? What would be the worst tragedy or the best triumph?

    Which brings up another thought: I wonder what other people wonder when they look at me?

  5. I’d like to think that he is waiting for the bus which will take him to his wife, who lives now in a nursing home. And you were witness to a lifetime of enormous love.

  6. Ah, our shared city.

    The local with whom we hung out in Budapest taught me that Hungarians just sit sometimes, so I don’t think the man is waiting for anything the way that an American would be.

    Our local friend was asking me about the lack of public spaces in the U.S. “Where do Americans go to sit?” I had to sadly answer, “We sit in our houses in front of the TV.” “But where do Americans go just to be?” “We don’t do that very well at all.”

  7. I love pictures that tell part of a story. I wonder if he’s at the end or perhaps just the beginning…

  8. Okay – I had to look at this several times. I swear I thought it was a Norman Rockwell picture. It looks so….professional, so well framed and thought out. I try and try and just can’t capture these beautiful moments on film. Great job!

  9. What an amazing picture! I love the way photographs tell a story.

    I worry a little bit about digital photography. I take SO MANY hundreds of pictures, and so many great ones, that I wonder what will survive as an iconic picture.

  10. Do you also when you’re on the road driving, wonder what other people are thinking? Are they worried about their jobs? Are they planning a divorce? Did they just get bad news from the doctor? That’s what I think when I look at that photo. I always hope when I see an elderly person that they are thinking that they had a good life.

  11. What a super photo! I love people-watching and thinking about the person’s thoughts/emotions/life too.

  12. What an incredible photo. I think it ~still~ tells a story, even though you’ve been looking at it for years.

  13. Beautiful picture. I love taking the time to think about things like this. Trying to imagine what’s going through someone else’s mind, what they have seen and experienced. You captured it beautifully.

  14. What a great photo! I think he’s waiting for something, like the bus, like Mel said. Almost eager for what will show up on the horizon.

  15. What a great picture! I really liked Mel’s thoughts on it, and if I look close enough, I think I can almost see the wistful expression on his face as he remembers their life together.

  16. I love the photo– great composition, great light, and a great mood that it captures. I often think of that when I see elderly people alone: have they had enough life? Have they had enough love? (Though the answer to both of those questions for anyone should be that there is never enough of either of those things…). I like to look around in my own life at times and think the same thing: have I been loved enough? (As long as my husband still pats my cheek in the morning and kisses my forehead, yes.) Have I lived enough? (given the time that has passed thusfar, I have crammed a lot of living into it, and so I can answer ‘yes’ to that one as well.)

    Nice choice for Show and Tell.

  17. I love the photo so many questions and things to ponder.. I could look at it for ages.

    I like to think he’s waiting for a life long friend..so they can talk about all the things they have seen together.

  18. That picture is gorgeous! I think that the fantasy in not-knowing is probably more beautiful than the reality. 🙂

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