His hand only shook lightly as the shutter dropped, capturing yet another photo of the old pier at Hai river during sunrise.
Even if the river looked mystical at best around this time of the day, he knew if he wanted to get what he wanted, he needed to work for it. It was never easy getting just the right angle, the right focus where he could capture the sunrays illuminating the old pier like some scene from a vintage movie. The skyscrapers on the horizon would also play into the whole dreamlike setting, working as an almost blurred background that would look as rippled as the water from the river itself.
It would be a beautiful picture if he could capture it. He had found this place by chance during his morning stroll around Beijing every morning. Even though it looked to be in a sorry state, standing broken in the middle of a lively city that had all the colours to offer, it still had its own stories to tell. The empty old pier and the ever-evolving city clashed together like two worlds on the bank of the river. The scene almost looked surreal around dawn, making it the perfect subject for him to work with. Because of this, he had been coming to this place for two days now, hoping to get just the right amount of lighting so he could get what he wanted, and today luck seemed to be finally on his side. Clicking away every few minutes as he adjusted the camera, he knew today he would get the shot he wanted. It was a surety that came with years of practice and fumbling, and he had honed this since he was just twelve, fumbling with an old Nikon Handy-cam his father had around that time, capturing and recording anything that he fancied.
Photography had been a part of him from a very early age. So when he took up Cinematography as his subject to study in college, it wasn’t a hard decision to make. He wanted to learn
So it was an easy decision on his part to study Cinematography when he finally moved to Beijing from his home in Layuong three months ago. He wanted to learn everything there was to know about filming, so he could capture the entire world from the angle he saw it in, at the same time, understand how others saw the world in return.
It was when the sun's rays started to get a tad too bright for his setting that he saw him. And he could not help but take the camera to his eyes to capture the shot.
The monsoon wind started picking up its speed as he made quick adjustments, and he watched in fascination how the wind and light worked together, turning his newfound subject into something spectacular.
Dressed in a faded grey jumper and loose running trousers, the man stood on the edge of the pier, still unaware of his presence just a few feet away Leaning carelessly across the railing, he took lazy drags from his cigarette as he stared blankly across the river. Even with his ebony black hair being tousled in the worst way possible by the wind, he still managed to look put together, and the sun rays, now in shades of bright orange and gold, made his skin look translucent.
It was only after getting home that Wang Zihao took a closer look at the photos he had taken of the man, and what he saw left an unknown feeling in his guts.
As he zoomed into the photo to resize the picture, his eyes got stuck on the man’s face.
He had the saddest eyes Zihao had ever seen.
It was undoubtedly, the best picture He had taken till then.
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The old world and new collide in the setting you describe. The photographer observes such detail that the scene is brought to life for us too. It makes me wonder about the man that is the subject of his gaze and as readers we end up stuck in a hall of mirrors of observation - watcher of watcher of the man watching the river, and imagining what the river watcher is watching whilst being watched.
Damnnnn..Get into story writing yourself this prose is so good!!
Also, I may not know much about photography but I do know some people who are obsessed with it, hence why it was easy to paint the whole thing out without making it sound corny. Thanks for leaving such a thoughtful comment, I still have a lot to learn when it comes to fiction writing, but these words will surely encourage me to do better 😊
To be a photogrpaher requires a skill to manage to show something that often we miss looking at the onjects of people. I like how you described the inner world of such a person, what he has in his mind when he is looking around to capture something and to make sure that it is successful.
Thank you so much. Photographers have a different way of viewing the world. And for this piece I wanted to explore their point of views and see what I could get out of it. I'm happy that I was able to get something out. 😊
To be honest, I love photography. The idea of capturing a moment in time forever is simply enthralling. Love your story 😍
Thank you so much! I'm not much of a photographer, but I do like taking pictures myself and my reason is the same as you explained.
Have a great day!
🤗
Welcome to The Ink Well, @drivingindevon! Your story is pensive and interesting. We get inside the mind of the photographer, and you do a very nice job of capturing that odd moment that every photo aficionado experiences at some point — seeing something in the photo that had not been apparent from the naked eye.
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Again, welcome!
Thank you for such a warm welcome. I'm glad you liked my story. I'll surely be checking other posts out here, and can't wait to get to know the community better!
I really enjoyed your story, @drivingindevon. It reminded me of my weird obsession with photography, and with getting just the right shot. I liked how the character discovered something in the image that he hadn't seen until he looked at the photo. That happens to me all the time. I wondered if the photographer was going to realize that the man on the pier was planning to take his own life!
Hello there! I'm glad you enjoyed the story. Even I like taking pictures myself, even though I'm not much of a photographer, and it is a thrilling discovery when you find something unexpecting in your photos.
And who knows what the man might have done. There are different sides to everything and maybe the man on the pier had his own story to tell. I do plan on writing some more stand alone stories that will circle around the photographer and the man on the pier, so maybe down the line we will get to find out what he was thinking.
Thank you for leaving such a wonderful comment! 😊
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Oh my! You're getting good at storytelling! I can see his passionate long talks for days on photography in your writing. And it is amazing how perfectly you bring those in-detail backgrounds of a photographer. Such a good job dear 💙
Thank youuu! Fiction has always been one of my strong side, I just never posted any on hive :,) but i am looking to change that now. So you'll see more fictions from me every now and then