by Dmitriy Krakovich (c) 1999, 718-837-4837
There is a college age attractive girl looking out
something. She is looking down at the street. There are
people and cars out there. Click… She took a picture. The
girl puts camera down and keeps looking down on the street
from her balcony. Camera is up… There is some girl walking
down the street in viewfinder. The girl from the street
sees that she is about being photographed, she smiles…
Click… Picture is taken.
The girl at the balcony refocuses the lens… There is a guy
in viewfinder from his back, who stopped and is looking at
something across the street. He turns… Click… His picture
is taken. The guy notices girl photographing him and starts
looking at her. The girl feels uncomfortable under his look
and goes inside the apartment.
She is looking at some pictures at her desk while door bell
catches her… She unlocks and opens the door while leaving
door chain on. There is that guy out there…
"Hi," he says.
"Hi. Do I know you?" She asks.
"My name is Andrew. You just took my picture," he answers.
"I just took your picture…" She repeats after him.
"I pose for you if you like to take more," he says.
"No, I don't need more… Thank you." She replies quickly.
"I am a photographer. I do portraits mostly…" He says.
"I'm a student…" She sounds more softly now.
"I'll show you how to do portrait right." He says.
"OK," she says after a short pause, unlocks the chain,
opens the door wider to let him in…
Lens is going in focus… There is Andrew's close-up in a
frame…
"You look for expression of the face, then you know what
are you going to photograph here," Andrew is talking in
front of the photo camera. "You can even see what they feel
toward you." Click… "You can even see what you are at the
moment, like you would look at mirror."
Girl glances at him not through the camera…
Click… Click… Click…
Left half of his face in the frame.
"What's another half?" He says. "One - love, another could
be hate."
She moves camera fast to get to see just right half of his
face. Slowly goes back… Click…
She looks worn out.
Close-up of his lips in the frame.
"Here is where you see real emotions," he says, "are they
relaxed, or in tense, or shuddering…" Click… "Why yours are
shuddering?"
She looks at him.
"Are you excited… or nervous?" He continues. "Let it go.
Make a picture. Picture it."
"They are relaxed," she says. And she raises the camera up.
"The eyes." He says. His eyes are in close-up. "The soul…
and the mirror."
She is slowly moving camera while keeping his eyes in
viewfinder, without taking pictures.
"That's all about eyes?" She asks.
"What do you see in there?" He replies. "Do you see why I
asked to pose for you?… Do you see why did you let me pose
for you?…" And after pause. "My reason was your look."
She puts camera down, looks at him, raises it up, finds his
eyes in viewfinder again, takes a picture, and puts camera
down again. "That's enough," she says.
"Did you find it in your eyes?" He keeps it. "The your
reason?"
"That's enough! Thank you. Will you go?" She says.
He sits where he was and looks the way he's going to say
something.
"Get fuck out from here!… Get out!…" She lets it go on him…
He gets up and goes all the way to the door while she is
following him with her eyes…
Door closes…
She lets herself sit at the desk. She looks tired. She
pulls desk mirror closer to see herself…
She studies herself in the mirror… She passes her hands
over her face… The nose… The ears… The neck…
The girl picks up the phone and dials a number.
"Sandy? Listen, listen… I just let go in a stranger,
totally stranger. And I photographed him…" She talks on the
phone. "No. A stranger!… I took his picture from the
balcony, and he asked to pose for me. You see?!… Yes.
Because he's handsome, interesting, he's photographer… I
don't know… No… No phone numbers, he's just stranger!… Why
should I? I did not like him… No, I don't want to see him
again… Oh, sweetie, stop it. I'm no going to… No… No… No… I
am not…"
THE END