My preciousss.. This lens (the Leitz Summicron 35mm f:2 asph) has it all, it’s simply a joy to take with you. I have just taken it off the Sony and set on the film camera, I look forward to shooting some frames with it again.
The story follows
***
Chronicles from the street
Driving with his left hand and talking on the phone with the right. Just like many parents used to drove big SUVs when still it was permitted to bring kids to school. Back then, when schools were open.
«Go figure, Malick, I heard a guy saying I’m lucky, ‘coz I can ride my bike for work».
The silence was so dense that the rumbling of the motor came almost as a relief. The truck bullied the center of the road, slowing down at the red traffic light. You could almost smell the driver's thought about the runner and his bike.
«It’s just us and them. Us or them.»
«A duel?» The lady wouldn’t have admitted, but the thought had crossed her mind unavoidable as a cough. Letting blankets and duvet in the sun, to follow the Goliath truck and the dwarf biker. After all, wasn’t this city birthplace of gladiators games.
Nobody seemed to notice. People were absorbed in their own thoughts; those masks, more than covering mouths and noses, seemed to blindfold the passers-by.
And those who didn’t wear masks shielded behind anything at hand. Waiting for the potential foe to withdraw.
Yet, sometimes, a smiling eye did spark between a mask and a visor. Most unexpected, an open invitation could come. «Do you take my photo? But I want to know when I become famous.»
Undeniably, some were happy. For going out so often as never before, sure. But, above all, for having their mixed herd together most of the time. Farewell to the long, boring hours alone in a luxurious empty lair.
Some were lucky enough as to be allowed to open their groceries, butchers, vegetable shops. Leaving home to go to work, enjoy the mild weather, even bask a little in the sun when the queue thinned out, or before opening and after closing. But fear used to overcome the awareness of such fortune.
While the sun shaped the unspeakable sadness of blossoming trees jailed in parks locked to children’s laughter...
Someone continued to brave the public transport. No traffic jams and crowds to challenge for once. And waiting in the sun.
Someone continued just watching their steps, oblivious to the surrounding. But everybody looked forward to getting out from the shadow.
Emptiness filled the roads at dusk, when traffic lights blinked, begging for the complicity of an occasional bystander.
This reads like a story from the tv series of the 60s. The Twilight Zone, with Rod Serling. I don't know if they made it overseas, but they were so hugely popular here and so iconic, they continue to play to this day (I can recognize every story.) Not always so much Science Fiction, but more like the stories by O Henry. In the here and now, was the "ending" to one tale what happened as it began, or will there be another unexpected ending yet to come...
@Weezilou That's what I thought reading this -- Twilight Zone in some dystopian future.
But then again, how we are living is as much like a Twilight Zone episode as at any time in our lives.
@overalvandaan Thank you a lot! @graemestevens Thank you very much, as always! @Weezilou@taffy I know of that series, even if I think I never watched one episode... But yes, it is like living in a dystopian future. @pdulis Thank you very much! @jgpittenger Thank you a lot. I do, also because a few years ago it had a terrible accident and I thought I had destroyed it! Luckily recovered with not much cost! @golftragic Thank you very much and... Yes, even if I was out then ;) @angelikavr Somehow... Thank you! @pistache Thank you very much, Clare. Actually, the whole series of 13 preceding photos has been shot with it! I am now changing to another lens. @leonbuys83 Thank you so much, Leon. @runner365 Thank you indeed, Claes!
But then again, how we are living is as much like a Twilight Zone episode as at any time in our lives.
@graemestevens Thank you very much, as always!
@Weezilou @taffy I know of that series, even if I think I never watched one episode... But yes, it is like living in a dystopian future.
@pdulis Thank you very much!
@jgpittenger Thank you a lot. I do, also because a few years ago it had a terrible accident and I thought I had destroyed it! Luckily recovered with not much cost!
@golftragic Thank you very much and... Yes, even if I was out then ;)
@angelikavr Somehow... Thank you!
@pistache Thank you very much, Clare. Actually, the whole series of 13 preceding photos has been shot with it! I am now changing to another lens.
@leonbuys83 Thank you so much, Leon.
@runner365 Thank you indeed, Claes!
@lostphojo Why, thank you so much!