what's in the bag? by summerfield

what's in the bag?

there's an exercise (or a challenge, if you will) somewhere in this site called portrait with possessions.

i'm no stranger to this. back at the old country in the early 80's, a friend, who was a producer of a live tv variety show, invited me to see the show. that day they had a segment where people were asked to show (on national tv) what they had in their purses (it was a time when man-purses was the rage for men). they gave special prizes for those with unusual stuff in their handbags or purses. oh, the stuff people carry with them. there was a man who carried a disposable diaper in his man-purse which was, thankfully, unused. one woman had her husband's teeth in a jar with water; her husband was at home. needless to say she won the top prize.

i was asked, probably at the behest of my producer-friend, to show my purse's contents which were a small notebook, two pens, a mechanical pencil, a 50-peso bill and some coins, and some antihistamines. the male host was rather amused that i had no powder, blush nor lipstick with me. or the infamous little mirror which seemed to be a 'must-have' for so many filipina girls.

fast forward to 2014, here's what my purse normally contains these days, aside from my dslr which i used to photograph this: my raynox macroscopic lens, spare canon battery, my 50mm, a pen, eye drops, anti-bug lotion, house keys, a tiny container of vaseline, lip gloss, my cellphone, a pack of gums for my itchy throat, a usb key, ND filter, cards for giving to people (hardly ever happens) when i've taken their photos and they wanted to contact me for a copy, my transit monthly pass and my office pass card. yes, still no make up or mirror. once i put on my moisturizing cream in the morning and my eye shadow, that's it for the face. same with hair, i comb or brush in the morning and that's it. no point fixing something that looks the same no matter what!

i did something similar in my first year: http://365project.org/summerfield/365/2011-11-11

what's missing? darn, my coin purse! where the heck is it???

thank you for your kind visits and comments; know that they are truly appreciated.
no point fixing something if it looks okay to start with?
June 8th, 2014  
@bobfoto - absolutely. i'm glad we're on the same page! thank you, jason.
June 8th, 2014  
@summerfield - always welcome. Your fear of selfies is waning of late?
June 8th, 2014  
@bobfoto - yes, getting used to it, especially when i have a concept for a photograph and no one to pose for me so i have to make do with my face! haha!
June 8th, 2014  
@summerfield - I know that feeling...
June 9th, 2014  
gosh you have a camera bag in that purse of yours. It must be a good size purse. Love your set up ... Great idea
June 9th, 2014  
Very cool. Love the chapstick. Is it Burts? The pomegranate kind. One of my favorite kinds, too.
June 9th, 2014  
@lesip - no, just a normal size purse. if i put my wallet in it, there'd be no place for the camera. which is fine because i don't use wallet anyway. thank you, leslie.

@amandal - no, i just use vaseline on my lips during winter. lipgloss during summer. when i change purses, everything gets dumped so i don't lose or forget anything. thank you, a.
June 9th, 2014  
If you ever see Burts, give it a try. I like the regular kind best actually. It's minty and nice!
June 9th, 2014  
funky fun :O)
June 9th, 2014  
Only the essentials! I like it. My purse has too much in it. I like your cards :)
June 9th, 2014  
Quite the collection there. I do notice another picture of yourself as well. Nice to see more selfies of you lately
June 9th, 2014  
Great composition you made
June 9th, 2014  
Cool idea! My bag would be lots of papers - atm receipt, bus tickets, official receipts, grocery list, lotto tickes and some what-nots my son and husband puts into it, lol.
June 10th, 2014  
My purse has too much stuff in it and is due for a good purge! But in spite of all the extra papers in there, there is still room for my camera. However, I don't have confetti in my purse like yours!
June 10th, 2014  
This is cool! In the states, btw, we had a show called Truth Or Consequences. At the end of the game show, the last 5 minutes, the host would go in the audience and ask them if they had certain things in their pockets or hand bags. if they did, they won something. I loved that part of the show. They only were given a few seconds to find it and he rushed them like crazy. It was so funny! Remember, I was about 6 -8 years old. I don't carry a lipstick mirror. I did for a while, as a parent at school gave me a very compact one that was so pretty. Brighton...silver metal with black leather but still pretty. My messenger bag I carry gets too heavy with all my stuff, so I put it out. I will have to do a shot like this! You learn so much about a person from their purse (or man purse!)
June 10th, 2014  
This has made me think I should sort my handbag out! I try to make sure it's not too heavy so just carry the basics with me! Nice photo, I like the way the items are framed so nicely!
June 11th, 2014  
This is great and thanks for joining in. I love that your selfie is on the mobile phone - and the choice of possessions.
June 16th, 2014  
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