A friend sent me an end-of-year note which, in
addition to the rather boring compte rendu of all the things he had done during
2015 ended with this sentence:
“And, just to
see how much my optic has changed, I re-read Nabokov’s Lolita. You know, I was
struck by the colours in his words. I wonder if to a B&W photographer like
you that means anything…”
Pithy. Yet I was interested in his comment, and
instead of rereading Lolita, decided to read about Nabokov.
… I knew about his passion for catching butterflies
and studying them. What surprised me is that he also was among the few
recognized to have synesthesia, a neural
crossing of the senses that makes one “hear” colours, perceive words and
numbers in a spectrum of hues and textures, and ,my favorite, “smell” sounds.
It is said that he associated the colour red with number 5, and he could smell
sounds when in the field chasing butterflies.
Now my friend’s comment intrigued me even more, and
I wondered if there can be a reverse synesthesia, where one sees all colored
things in B&W or in shades of gray. I searched for this diagnosis but could
not find it. So, perhaps I just came up with a new term for how a B&W
photographer sees the moment, framed in his viewfinder.
Indeed, at least in my case, I do “see” the printed
version of the photo just before I take it. I do not see colours, just a
spectrum of gray. And that is why I might wait for the light to change if I
have the luxury, or decide to do some darkroom work later on. Because I had
already decided what shades of gray there will be in the photo just before I
depress the shutter.
I once read that “expertise” is one’s ability to
bring together dimensions of a thought or the strategy of an action in a way
that others do not perceive it. So in some ways it is an enhanced perception
capacity when just observing a chaotic (or ordinary) scene, one can create
order, and find a story to tell.
So, went back and tried to find a couple of examples
of my perception bias.
Taipei,
Taiwan
I was walking when I saw this sign “I Think So
Restaurant...”! Clearly it meant something else in Mandarin and the English
translation was more than funny. Yet, the story for me was the humble building
front with no resemblance to a restaurant. However, the building was dark,
monotonous and the concrete highly weathered. The massage parlor sign next to
it was bright, smooth, and much more inviting than the restaurant! I
immediately opted for contrast, framing the continuum of the shades of gray and
telling a travel story.
Barcelona, Spain
This man was a class act as a beggar. Actually I did
not think of him as a beggar when I noticed his jacket, hat, cat in his lap,
and dog next to him. Perfect combination of texture, shape and contrast. But
the story was in the book he was reading – Agatha Christie was on the cover! I
have to admit that I have not seen a street beggar ever read a book and be
dressed so well (I was wearing jeans and an old T-shirt at that moment…) and
certainly not to read Agatha Christie mysteries. When I depressed the shutter, I recall
thinking “Is there really a book inside that cover?”
But did not want to spoil the story by checking that
out….
December 26, 2015
© Vahé A. Kazandjian, 2015
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