Scarborough Fair - a photo on Flickriver

Scarborough Fair

            I was already five steps past this young girl when I froze in my tracks. It took that long for her appearance to register. Her piercing eyes and the carnival face paint. Put me in mind of a bruised and battered court jester. And that undefinable sense of a girl 13 going on 30 that seems to happen when the eyes are out of age sync with the rest of the face. I approached her to compose a portrait. As her face appeared in the review screen my mind began to tumble back in time. Impossibly it felt as if I had seen this same girl over 50 years ago. I was a kid at a carnival with my parents around 1968. Back then she was older than me. She was laughing, carefree and barefoot, long hair flowing and I could swear the same jester face paint. She noticed me and smiled. Felt like I was walking on air for days afterward. The moment passed in an instant but it stayed with me the rest of my life. Saw the same girl again about ten years later. I was cool looking then, long blond hair, and much prettier than my bohemian girlfriend who happened to be with me at the time. The girl just smiled and said hi as we passed. "Who was that?' my girlfriend hissed as I felt my moment slipping away forever. Saw the girl one more time a few years later in Coventry. Time had stolen my looks, and she passed me unnoticed on the sidewalk. I knew it was probably for the best.  If she remembered me at all I preferred it was the young blond version. My consciousness rushed back suddenly to the present, a lifetime had flashed by in 45 seconds. But I had the portrait, and a haunting image of my old self reflected in the youth of her eyes. Life had just turned another full circle around me.
   

Taken on: July 3, 2022

Tags:

carnival

moment

witness

energy

youth

passage

fleeting

generations

memories

lifetime

dreams

age

reflection

sadness

reconciled

diminish

living

dying

pretense

haunted

spirit

childhood

difference

forlorn

street fair

dissipate

brilliant

dull

edges

wabi sabi

imperfect

seasons

cycles

realization

connection « less

Groups appears in: • Portraits have Souls • Portraits and Faces more » • Poème par images Poem by images Poema por imágenes Poema • One rule : WOMEN « less

Camera: Apple iPhone 7, f/1.8, 1/120 sec, 4mm, ISO 32 (more info) (hide info)

Camera:	Apple iPhone 7
Lens:	iPhone 7 back camera 3.99mm f/1.8
Aperture:	f/1.8
Exposure Time:	0.008 sec (1/120)
Focal Length:	4mm
ISO:	32
Exposure Bias:	0 EV
Flash:	Off, Did not fire
Exposure Program:	Program AE
Exposure Mode:	Auto
Metering Mode:	Multi-segment
White Balance:	Auto
Color Space:	Uncalibrated
Software:	Adobe Photoshop 23.2 (Macintosh)
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