iPhone Photo Chronicles ~ Loneliness of the Long-Distance Commuter ~ |
Tweet
Didn't there used to be a famous book on zen boudhism called the loneliness of the long-distance runner, or am I getting confused with motorcycle maintenence..?
Oh well, this really brings to mind an image of some little boy from the forties or something, all done up in his school uniform with nicely pressed shorts, clutching hard to the strap of his satchel with his bottom lip quivering and tears welling up in his eyes but trying to be a 'big boy' as he heads off to boarding school for the first time.
Maybe it's the sign, 'Grand Voyager', that makes me thing of you're a 'big boy now'. Or maybe the seeming solitude amongst this multitude of other lives buzzing back and forth like some sort of Brownian motion experiment from the school science lab.
I was reading a book of philosophical puzzles the other day, and one of them was, why do we get excited or sad or scared or just simply emotional when we watch films or read books? We know it's not real. And this guy is probably some highly competent, high-flying businessman ready to be whisked off to some vital business meeting to clinch a deal with the Japanese after months of intense negotiation.
But he still looks like a little boy lost to me. So why do we?
___________________________________________________________________________________
© 2010 Sab Will / Paris Set Me Free - Contact me directly for photo tours, interviews, exhibitions, etc.
3 comments:
I like this shot. And your interpretation.
My belief is this; we as readers and visual viewers enjoy a good story. In our enthusiasm for the story, we immerse ourselves into the scene and become the hero or heroine.
In the case in today's photo, I totally get it. The sun is shining, the river slowly ambles along past Musee D'Orsay and countless cafe's in the bright morning light. Yet the hero must submit to his daily task, ride the train in to the impending foreboding office. An office of a sea of cubicles to plod through paperwork. I weep for the man.
Thanks pretemoiparis, appreciate it a lot.
Rob, thanks. Quite a while ago, more than half a lifetime away, I left the conventional, 'good' job I'd earned at university, and moved onto other things. Quite a lot of other things in the end. And I can't say I regret it. Sometimes I am that businessman, waiting for a train to take me to some appointment or other. But not often these days. I don't disrespect him or feel contempt for him, assuming 'he' at least represents the little scenario I imagined above. That's fine for some folks, and, of course, they may be happier than me in many ways. But I wouldn't be. Not for long. Not if I couldn't escape to this on a regular basis.
Post a Comment