fly on the wall

I often take time to myself to just observe stuff around me. So I chose to write about my solo trip through Golden Gate Park in San Francisco.

By using the camera, I felt that I had an "excuse" for being alone. It feels like somehow using a camera makes you different from others, an entity unto yourself. Whereas I would definitely feel shy by myself, once I have that camera, I feel I can go anywhere and no one will question me, they just assume I belong there (the fact that my camera is pro-looking being key to that).

Once inside the famous Japanese Tea Garden, I walked around for at least an hour just looking at the flowers, watching shadows, and observing people. One of the photos I framed was the shadow of a young couple. They moved before I completed my shot, so here's where I stepped in to interact. I asked the couple to come back so I could grab the shot, and showed them the image I was getting. At this point, they asked me to take the same picture with their digital camera, and take a couple pictures of them together in the gardens.

So the camera can make me invisible, but it can also prove to be the instrument that allows me to go up to just about anyone and start up a conversation.