We went to Honduras in 2003 with some of our friends. Rented a couple of houses in Roatan Island and spent Christmas together. Janet and I got there about three days after everyone else. They spent some time on the mainland. We had to stay home for some reason, maybe to spend Christmas with the family. We joined everyone on Roatan. Interesting and slightly depressing place.

I had jut purchased a point and shoot camera, a Casio, a rarity in Canada. This was Casio’s attempt at looking slightly professional. A lovely camera that Casio has not been able to replicate. Nice lens, a screen that rotates allowing you to take pictures from different angles, including of yourself, yet another absurd rarity. It may add a bit of bulk to the camera, but it makes the device so versatile.

My amazing friend Judy tells me that she watched me pull the camera out of my bag and thought I handled it differently from others. I remember thinking the same thing when Janet and I went to Cannes a few years earlier. We were accompanied one day on our walks by a couple of other people, one of whom was/is a professional photographer. I put my camera away when he pulled his out. He handled his camera with so much more ease and comfort than I thought I did. There was no hesitation before taking a picture, he was so sure of his settings. I am no slouch behind the lens, but he was a big step or two way ahead of me.

Judy asked me a couple of years later whether I see the world in pictures. What a bizarre concept. Say it again. See the word in pictures? What? I had to think about that. Interesting idea. It took a while to realise that I do look at the world in pictures. It is a strange concept. You see a wall, I see a picture. You see graffiti, I see art. You see nothing, I see a picture. There have been numerous occasions where people have stood behind me and wondered what I was taking a picture of. I have to ask my other friend David Jang about this. He is an amazing photographer.

I have not seen a picture in about three months. I went for a drive to a location north of Toronto where there is a mall called Vaughn Mills. I don’t like the mall, but there is a computer store there that carries a particular hard drive I wanted. I was stopped on the drive back at a red light waiting for the green. There were houses ahead of me. Nothing special there. Behind the houses is Canada’s Wonderland , an amusement park that is open in the summers only. I have never been there. They built an artificial mountain in the centre of it to give it some sort of character. It is a bit of a bizarre concoction. Looming above the houses are some yellow pipes that curve. There are about four of these. Took me a while to realise that these are part of a roller coaster ride. Imagine living through a summer with that noise in your back yard.

I sat there for a while. It was a long light. I saw a picture. I have to go back and take it. I saw a picture.

I went grocery shopping the next day. On the drive home I saw a picture.

I was out later in the day, I saw a picture.

I am seeing pictures. I am seeing a lot of pictures. Fine thing.

Once I get them organised, they will be posted on farokh.ca