this morning i jogged by the sea side for the last time on this trip. as i did, something got my attention. it was a woman holding and feeding a few weeks old baby as she sat on a ledge by the sea wall. it brought back memories of my mother and the women in my old neighbourhood bringing their babies out into the sun because they were told that it made the babies grow stronger. sunlight of course gives off vitamin D that is good for bone growth. i had already jogged a few metres when i decided i wanted to record that moment with my camera. i jogged back and asked the lady in my most polite manner if i can take her picture. she asked what it was for and i said it reminded me of what my mother used to do with her babies, to which she agreed, after asking me to not put a bad spell on her baby.
the filipinos believe in this old wives' tale that if anyone looks at a baby or a young child in a negative way, that person might make the young one terribly sick, even unintentionally. to counter this, they would ask the person to rub saliva on the baby's tummy or foot. not a lot of saliva, mind you. just to wet one's finger by touching his/her tongue then touching the baby with that wet finger, is all. i was thankful the lady didn't ask me to do that because i'd have refused as i don't believe in that, although i always make it a point to brush my teeth and wash my mouth before i get out of the house.
in any case, i took a picture but as i was going to post it, i realized that the baby's face was very much visible and i try not to post any stranger child on my album. however, the silhouette of the lady against the sea wall was quite striking, so it's photo of the day. i think this is one of my favourite shots i've made so far and i hope you agree with me. i would have also loved to have a mirror frame on this photo but my internet connection is so slow picnik won't even load.
i've packed my things and getting ready to get some sleep. we leave for the airport quite early tomorrow as we could not check in online so we need to do that at the counter. i will be posting my december 1st photo early as i will be travelling the whole day and may not have time to do so. thank you for your comments and hope to return the favour in two, three days' time.
I love this shot as a silohuette instead of "reality". You fully get the mother/child connection, but at the same time it retains her privacy and calms her fears since no one can actually see her child this way. Superstiton is very powerful. I don't know if you can fully break it in a culture, but it might be possible. After all, if it wasn't, we'd still be believing that the world was flat. Beautiful shot! (As an ace member you can go back and edit after the fact, upload the changes and exchange the pictures without losing your comments). Safe travels!!
This is AWESOME! I am not sure if a frame would help it....you'd have to try it and see I guess. I loved your interesting story about the saliva and all that. Wow. That is why i always chose Sociology class over Psychology class when I could choose (in college). I think it vastly more interesting what people on this planet come up with/belief/eat/worship than how our minds/feelings form.
@catsmeowb - thank you, camille. yes, i figured while i had permission to take the photograph, it doesn't really mean i can post it on the internet. but as the silhouette is the best part of the photograph, nothing would preclude me from cropping that part of the photo and posting it on my album.
@olivetreeann - thank you, ann. my family and i always clashed on superstitions. my poor mother was very superstitious and could not understand how she could've bore a child who dared to challenge every superstition. but of course there are a few i believe in: jiggling coins in my pocket and filling up my rice container during new year's eve. those never hurt!
@danig - thank you, friend. @karenann - thank you, karenann. @jannkc - thank you, jann. @sunnygreenwood - thank you, anne. had a relatively uneventful trip back. except in japan, i thought i was going to be strip searched. the scanners kept beeping on me, especially on my left breast. turned out it was the underwire of my push-up bra. funny thing was the right side didn't trigger off the scanners, just the left side. they already had all my jewelry taken off and had resorted to a manual 'scan'. strange being felt by a woman all over with two uniformed men watching. i had read a lot of stories about this procedure is causing a lot of people distress and embarrassment but i thought it was just all part of security measures. my twisted mind, however, was on overdrive!
@espyetta - thank you, MB. my mother used to believe i had the evil eye and that i had caused the neighbuorhood children's sickness when all i did was look at them. i had been forced to put finger on my mouth and wipe my saliva on children's tummy or feet until i had the idea of just spitting on them. heck, there, have a ball with my spit. hahaha! my mother didn't think it was funny but stopped asking me to do the dastardly thing when i came into my teens. by then i was told to pray until i had the idea of telling her i was an atheist.
@steeler - thank you, howard.
@catsmeowb - thank you, camille. yes, i figured while i had permission to take the photograph, it doesn't really mean i can post it on the internet. but as the silhouette is the best part of the photograph, nothing would preclude me from cropping that part of the photo and posting it on my album.
@olivetreeann - thank you, ann. my family and i always clashed on superstitions. my poor mother was very superstitious and could not understand how she could've bore a child who dared to challenge every superstition. but of course there are a few i believe in: jiggling coins in my pocket and filling up my rice container during new year's eve. those never hurt!
@karenann - thank you, karenann.
@jannkc - thank you, jann.
@sunnygreenwood - thank you, anne. had a relatively uneventful trip back. except in japan, i thought i was going to be strip searched. the scanners kept beeping on me, especially on my left breast. turned out it was the underwire of my push-up bra. funny thing was the right side didn't trigger off the scanners, just the left side. they already had all my jewelry taken off and had resorted to a manual 'scan'. strange being felt by a woman all over with two uniformed men watching. i had read a lot of stories about this procedure is causing a lot of people distress and embarrassment but i thought it was just all part of security measures. my twisted mind, however, was on overdrive!
@cscecil - thank you, CS. glad you like it.
@bkbinthecity - thank you, brian.