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| Photo by: Jan Jan Montajes |
To be photographed still brings
out an uncharacteristic shyness in me (a cast of rolling eyeballs here. Go
ahead). Though it has been considered a past time together with some of my
musician friends, the idea of striking a pose (shamelessly) especially in front
of people whom I share no personal acquaintance with only brings out a smile
wrought in pain and embarrassment in me.
Not only once have I been asked by Sir Uniokeez, one of the very active members
of the Pinoy Shutters Brunei Darussalam – a group of Brunei-based Filipinos who
took photography on a serious level other than just a mere hobby- to pose for him
and be a subject of his studious gaze and the instant click of his camera. Reluctance
and a busy schedule were among the various reasons that caused us to delay
several photo shoots until finally there were no more reasons to postpone it and
to refrain from giving him the wrong impression of me being a difficult person,
I finally conceded to his request. I finally said “Okay”.
We were to meet on Sunday, July
22 at Damuan, a recreational park here in Brunei.
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| Photo by Carem Lemence |
There were (to my surprise) 6
photographers to smile, feel vulnerable to. At the thought of being aimed with
bulky gadgets and lenses sharp enough to see through my little imperfections, I
felt myself melting—the weather was no help either. I cringed to their careful
examinations, like an awkward subject to their relentless gaze. I flinched
rather than give them a decent, Kodak moment. I felt I’ve lost the lust over
this little excursion.
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| Photo by Carem Lemence |
Among those who came to shoot me
(Haha pun intended) were Sir Uniokeez, Carem Lemence, Sheila Calzado, Lee Abrio
(gulp), Jan Jan Montajes and Irene dela Cruz (and her Malaysian friend).
Yet there, I took out my violin and
tried to console myself with a few melodic lines with which I have been
rehearsing a few days back. And with a renewed spirit that came from the hard
feel of my instrument, the vibration of strings from the slightest touch to its
familiar timbre that has been my refuge for 14 years, I know I need not feel
intimidated. To be standing on a boat as a subject to multiple clicks of
cameras, that sounded like luck not everyone has.
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| Photo by: Sir Uniokeez |
I stepped into the rented water
taxi with all the dignity I can muster and did what I came to do and was born
to do. I gave them a performance. For an hour I fiddled under the pretence of
performing for an admiring (if not tone deaf) audience, stood, sat, stared in
different angles and smiled at the thought of having these little theatrics
caught, frozen in every nanosecond press of the shutter-release button. In
times like these, it only takes a little imagination and a lively sense of
humour. But behind it all, I was really laughing at myself.
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| Photo by Lee Abrio |
After another hour the group
decided to change the scenery. We drove far from land and headed deeper in the direction
of the river and settled in a scenery which I believe this country is entirely
blessed with but which was (until yesterday) kept from my attention (since,
let’s face it, there is no spirit of adventure that coursed through me at all).
Before us there stood a postcard view of water and verdant landscape. There was
the river, in its late afternoon silver glitter and a grove of intertwining
trees or shrubs that surrounds it under layers of stratus and nimbus in various
shades of grey, pink and orange that let up a general awe from each of us. It
was a sight to behold. We basked in 5 p.m. chill like over excited tourists. The
sight lifted our spirits after an hour of exposure to breeze, heat and tedium. But,
really, our attentions where drawn to the multicoloured mist that graced a scenery
of abundant water and sprouts of vegetation. There stretched on the horizon was
a rainbow which stood like a heaven- sent gesture, a kindly smile but beyond grasp.
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| Photo by: Carem Lemence |
It is always through these daily
occurrences of magic and miracles that I am reminded and therefore thankful to
a one Greater Artist, Author and Architect. The lasting permanence of the view
( though has left me dumb in words, but here I try) will always remind me of
Brunei, An Abode of Peace, A Kingdom of Unexpected Treasures. And like Ernest
Hemingway’s Paris, here is Brunei, in all its given splendour, thus, a moveable
feast.
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| Photo by Carem Lemence |
Kudos to all photographers who suffered
through irritable weather and subject’s temperament.
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| Photo by Jan Jan Montajes |
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| Photo by Sheila Calzado |
