Autumn 2011.
That was 10 years ago. How do I know for sure?
Because of the Metadata.
Yes, you read that correctly.
A couple of days ago, I read somewhere :
“if you don’t care about photos yet, wait until that’s all you have left”.
Memory is a funny thing. Sometimes you remember everything like it was yesterday. Sometimes, all you have are fragments. Overtime you run out of RAM, harddisk fails(courtesy, J)
Then, there is technology. Memories saved in Bits– to make it sound more familiar- pixels.
Floppy discs, flashcards, SD cards, external harddisks and many more.
So yes, The Metadata.
Now, with an ever-failing “hard disk” all I have left is the metadata. Whoever wrote that quote was correct; the most precise details that I have right now, are from the metadata of photos.
From there, I put together the fragments of my memory- like a jigsaw puzzle, and complete the story.
So what about those memories with no visual material to refer back to?
Must have been just a figment of my(/your) overactive imagination.
What about the deleted photos?
Poof! They are gone. And in retrospect, they didn’t happen. How could they, there is no proof.!
Yet somehow, some photos(or missing photos from a series) keep lurking in old harddisks, old backups, like ghosts, waiting to be acknowledged. Either you cared too much about them that you kept multiple copies or didn’t care enough to even realise they existed.
So back to the Autumn, of 2011.
This set is from Poru, in Perumbavoor. I was visiting a friend’s place. A promise that took 12 years to be fulfilled. Her house was near the river Periyar. And she took bath at the river; every day. (or at least that is what she told me.) Something totally inconceivable to my “urban” soul.
So she took me to the riverside for a bath and boating(I could not swim then).
It was incredible. I still dream about bathing in the mighty river Periyaar; even after all these years.
So yes, the photos. That’s all I have left now. They are by no means on par with the photos that I have now, in terms of technical perfection. Some are blurred, and some are underexposed. Yet those blurred frames hold more value and meaning than the many technically correct /perfect photos I take nowadays.
Cheers to Ms. T and our beautiful friendship!
Taken with an Olympus point-and-shoot camera.
