Tints Of Mauve

By Navin

You can’t wait until life isn’t hard anymore, before you decide to be happy.

Life is superior as it witnesses. All the life that exists on this planet has the ability to

witness; experience. They experience ingestion, pain, reproduction, and other basic

essential activities. Humans have the gift of experiencing through light. They see. They

can walk or run around, move their heads and capture everything around them. Humans

can go the distance to view something so divine if they wish to. They can go alone or

bring someone along. Humans love experiencing the world around them so much that

they decided to document it, wanting to showcase. They invented us, cameras. We have

evolved a lot over the years, from our shape and size, how we are to be used, film to

digital. Today, I sit among the best of us there are. I know that.

I have a feeling someone is going to get me. I am going to be used by someone; someone

who wants me specifically. I can only see the space in front of me when my lens cap is off.

I am being moved around; perhaps they are opening the box. Yes, get rid of all this

packaging and papers off me. I need to feel the touch of a human's hands holding and

controlling me. Now, I feel I’m placed outside but no movement. I have no idea what my

owner is doing. They might be reading the instructional manual or something.

Alright, it is time! My lens cap is off, and I shall prepare to see what is in front of me. I am

finally being used. My owner holds me as they check out the different parts I have. Yes,

they can take their time to get familiar with me. I need time too, to be familiarised with

them. No worries. I am now wondering what my special owner looks like, and what type

of photographs they wish to capture using me. I have no doubt I will be the best for them,

so will they for me. Oh look, they have purchased a nice set of tripods too. I will have the

luxury to be placed on a tripod as they capture photographs. How lucky for me.

I am supposedly placed on a table, and I can see my owner walking back and forth,

appearing to be doing something. By now I can confirm my lucky owner is a wonderful

woman. I cannot imagine the marvellous scenery and places she is going to click using

me; I cannot wait. She lifts me off the table, and tries to hold me properly. She views

through me, seeing out the window, at a corner of the room, and the door. Then, she

stands in front of the mirror holding me against her eye. I can see her wearing a grey

t-shirt and pale purple leggings. She is also wearing a variety of colourful wristbands,

sparkling earrings and a thin but intricate necklace. I am still unable to see her face. She

presses the shutter for the first time and I capture that image of hers on the mirror. She

focuses and clicks one more time. Now, she flips me the other way and points at her face

which is a bit too close within the frame. Regardless, I can see her face. She has nice

brown eyes having an electrifying gaze, below that a soft freckled nose. Perfect eyebrows

and her hair is coffee-coloured and cut short, smooth and shiny like warm honey. A

dimple forms on her dewy cheeks as she grins widely showing off her white teeth. She is

pretty. Then, ‘Click!’ I capture. The magic has only just begun.

She seems really eager, wanting to show me to everyone. She takes me along and runs

downstairs. I guess they are all her family, and they appear to be just as content as her

seeing me. I am being held by different persons as they want to have a feel of me. I really

do not mind all this. In fact, I feel special and wanted. This is great. She finally takes me

back and decides to take more photographs; of her family.

I am truly blessed to be able to capture the beautiful smiles and joy these people show.

The place, being their home, is calm and quaint which is admirable. Everything about

them is laudable. Their simple jewellery that they embrace, very authentic and graceful

sarees of all sorts of colourful and distinctive patterns, and my ability to capture

everything in great detail makes it even better as I behold their wrinkles, pimple scars,

and moles. They are all so innocent and pure. It is so nice to see them share their joy,

especially for my owner because I can tell that getting me is a huge deal for her. This is

the real beauty that I am made to capture. I am brought to a couple of men there too and

they are equally excited to see me. Humans are great.

She takes special care of me. Cleaning my lens, and other parts. The first few days, she

does not bring me out of her house. She waits for the golden hours to bring me to the

windows and capture the pristine bright skies of all sorts of colours. She even proceeds to

document her room, and her room is really cozy. The walls are in lavender colour, a big

bookshelf filled with books, and a couple of photographs framed. Wow, she even captures

with a 2:3 aspect ratio. Neat. She has an adorable and playful pet dog too. We click a few

pictures of the canine. Now, the tripods are finally being used. She sets it up near her bed

and places me on top. She sets the timer for 10 seconds, and clicks before settling on her

bed for a pose. She does a lot of this. She sits cross-legged and shrugs with her hands

tucked and a sweet smile. Her head tilts a little to the left and her hands curved under her

chin, her eyes closed. She shows the shape of a heart using her hands, and one eye closed.

The final one being her doing a flying kiss pose. I can sense the immense pleasure she

feels as she takes all these photographs; all very vibrant and dazzling. Truly mesmerizing.

Whenever I am not being used I feel like I am travelling through time. I do not see or feel,

just placed and stationary. It feels so quick the next time I am being used. Now, I am

being brought outside my owner’s house. A lot of greenery, but not just green. There are

trees with bright green leaves, tanned bronze leaves and every colour in between. I can

also see beds of leaves and flowers lying on the quiet streets. A line of frugal, lustrous

houses. She starts walking around hoping to find a nice space which she can snap. She

captures the architectural aesthetics of the houses in unique angles and both aspect ratios.

She knows how to set the ISO speed, exposure and white balance. The photographs have

moderately high saturation. She knows how to make the best use of me. All of the

photographs she takes highlight the great suburbans here. There is also a photograph of

the street name: Dumas Street, White Town. I do not mean to exaggerate when I say

everything is extremely alluring.

Another time, we have come to a spacious playground where there are many children.

They are all running around, and playing on the swings and slides. She seems to be

friends with some of the mothers there. I am just hanging from her neck as she walks

around. She has a few kids gathered in front of her, and she instructs them how to stand

in a group, in front of the tripod stand she has set up and placed me. She wants to

photograph them. I am so gifted to be able to witness such wholesome moments. These

kids show nothing but pure glee as each one of them wants to be seen, and captured.

Some do a gun pose, some form unique symbols with their hands, and some are just

jumping around in excitement; all of them wanting to get in the frame. The photographs

taken are just out of this world; every one of them radiates the purity of human joy.

Humans relish food, right? It is one of the essentials for their survival, and they especially

like good food. Drinks, sides, and snacks are all included. My owner has gotten me to a

resto-bar of some sort. The place, above ground floor, has rich and colourful lighting. The

table is long, and there are many people seated here. I recognize some of them from her

family. They are gladly conversing which I am unable to hear; I do not have a

microphone. All of them are happily enjoying their beers and sides. She uses me to

capture some of them candidly as they devour their beer and other drinks, done with

different depth and focus of my lens. Food has arrived, and they are all well garnished and

looking great. There are some curry, rice, bread, meat, and more sides. Of course, she

needs to capture these too. They are masterpieces of culinary artistry. The textures on

these photographs are really defined. She captures her friends enjoying the food, their

reactions. A group photo is also to be taken, wide angle; one without my owner, and one

with her. I cannot help but notice she has lost weight.

I think I can boast about the quality of all my photographs, high definition with great

texture. But, that is because of the skills of my owner. We engage in taking a lot of

portraits too. The pinnacle of humans’ charm is their unmatched purity and vulnerability.

When placed in an enamoring setting, they get winsome and reveal joy. Pure elation. We

capture their naturally infectious smiles, diamond eyes, untamed and effortless hair, sun

kissed skin. Close clicks and a few long ones. These show just how proud they are to be

alive. They connect with the rest of the world as they illuminate a beacon of light of

kindness and delight.

This neighbourhood is rich in greenery. There is a garden nearby and she decides to head

over there. I can see many potted plants arranged neatly, and they are colourful and

dainty. There are vines here and there, the grass is mowed and looks nice. She walks

around barefooted and captures a few photographs of the plants and flowers here. She

also catches a few ladybugs and photographs them too, with the zoom lens. The dew on

these leaves and the soft petals really take the photographs to the next level. The contrasts

in the photos boost the vibrant hues of the flowers. Lastly, she takes a click of her feet on

the lush grass.

Days go by, and my owner does not use me as much as before. I remain here feeling each

second pass. Now, she takes me with her as she wants to transfer the photographs to her

computer. I can see her hand placed in front me, and she has an intravenous line inserted.

She no longer wears any wristband. I am worried about her health now. I thought it was

the lighting, but it is not because her skin has gotten more pale. She has lost more weight

too. What is going on?

She likes to play with her cute little dog; Labrador. She is pretty just like my owner. She

has majestic golden fur which shows great on the photographs. Both of them have a great

time playing around and taking beautiful photographs. Sometimes, her and her dog go for

a walk and they bring me along too. They stop at places to get a few photographs taken.

There are few other dogs and their walkers, they play together and run around. We take

more photographs.

Every now and then, she takes me and rides her bicycle to the beach nearby. We do this

during the golden hours; dusk. The shores seem welcoming of us. The skies are painted by

nature in different hues of orange, purple, red and many more. The clouds are fragmented

and parallel to the top line of the frame, barely hiding the setting sun. We capture these

mellow moments. I see flares through my lens as she takes photographs. I wonder if

human eyes get the same lens flare effect that I get. I guess it is nice and aesthetic,

because she seems to add flares to her photographs consciously. The tides wash over her

feet as she just stands there with me hanging over her neck. As I am against her stomach

and all this worrying about her health makes me feel her discomfort too. Something is

going to happen, I know. She runs barefoot with wet sand all over feet and ankle, gets on

her bicycle and rides off.

There is a long pause. A long pause from photographing. I wonder what has happened to

her. A long while later, I am being taken out. She cleans me and then proceeds to transfer

the rest of the photographs to her computer. Then, she takes out a camera lens filter and

it on my lens. A pale purple filter. I have no idea why she is doing that. Now,

everything I can see is tinted with that pale purple hue.

She takes many more photographs with the filter on. Skies from the terrace, her pet

Labrador, children, plants, and her family members. I can tell she has become weak

because she is unable to hold me steadily when she captures photographs. Hence, the

photographs come out shaken. She adjusts to this effect and deliberately takes all

photographs with motion blur and shaken effect, and the tinted filter adds to the

dreariness. Some photographs have her self portrait and she looks really wilted and in

pain. She seems to be wearing the same pallored t-shirts. She has lost more hair, I can see

more bald spots. However, they are all hazy because the photographs are shaky and

blurred. They all have tints of mauve.

One day, she takes me to photograph something. She has written something on the wall.

You can

’t wait until life isn

’t hard anymore,

before you decide to be happy.

It is written with the same shade of mauve, and she photographs that. The quote seems

optimistic but with the filter I have on makes the photograph depressing. As she walks

around, I can recognize some of the framed photographs she has put up on her lavender

walls. They are all the photographs we took. There is also an intravenous pole next to her

bed. It is where she first set up her tripod stand to capture a few self portraits. I am really

concerned right now.

The next photograph they take using me is of her lying on her bed, looking really frail

and ashen. Her head is completely shaven, she is on some medication through the

intravenous line, and I do not see the same woman who I was with many weeks ago. She

lies there and all her family members have surrounded her bed. She shows a thumbs up

with a painful smile, and the shutter clicks. The same mauve filter. After the photograph

is taken, I remain on the tripod stand and watch everyone confront her. Perhaps they are

giving some words of encouragement and enthusiasm.

They do not turn me off and place me inside a closet or somewhere. Instead, I am kept on

the tripod at the corner of the room, facing the wall. All I can see is part of that quote she

had written. Nothing more. I am left here for days.

I have never counted the days I am not being used, but this time it is difficult to be not

used. It is time, I am being brought to some place. It is a funeral. I do not need to guess

who it is. I anticipated this moment. Many are amassed around and one of them holds me.

I am unable to witness the entire ordeal here. I see people hugging each other, crying,

throwing flowers, and there is a priest present. I only catch a glimpse of the coffin which I

do not wish to describe. It is over.

Many weeks later, I am brought to the cemetery again. There is a tombstone finally

placed. It reads:

In Loving Memories Of

Amélie Casta

20 November 1980 to 15 March 2008

Her Greatest Battle In Life Was To Show The World Through Her Eyes

There are a few framed self portraits of her with some flowers. I capture those too. Then,

back home, her room is cleaned. Surrounding the quote she had painted on the wall are

all of her photographs framed in different sizes. An amazing collage. And again, I capture

that too. The last one. It is not going to feel the same anymore.

I do not have life, so I do not die. I live through the photographs that people take using

me. For me it was her, Amélie. Our journey was simply splendid. I could feel her passion

for wanting to capture the aesthetics of everything around her. She was really driven by

this. It took me a long time to realise she was actually suffering healthwise, because she

never showed that when photographing. It is possible she wanted to document her last

days through her eyes, as she took great glory in capturing many astonishing moments.

Her second phase photography with tints of mauve spoke loud about her numbered days.

Amélie knew what was about to unfold, and she never once showed fear or much sorrow.

If this is not the epitome of strength then I do not know what is.

I will miss you. Thank you for the memorable, unfading moments. You will live forever

through your photographs. Love you always Amélie.

By Navin