THE VIEW, PARKTOWN
I am still concerned about the people in Turkey and
Syria that are severely impacted by the earthquakes and the after shocks that
tore the land apart on 6 February 2023. How are they coping? I asked you, my
readers, how are you “coping” with this brutal creativity? Some of reacted on
my Facebook page and I do appreciate it. Please keep working and keep on make a
difference in life.
In the meantime, we genealogists of West Gauteng
Branch of the Genealogical Society of South Africa [GSSA] visited the Transvaal
Scottish Regimental HQ – “The View” in Parktown, Johannesburg. And it was such
a pleasure. I hasten to add that we had the immense privilege of securing James
Mitchell as our host and guide. He is such a character – I was standing outside
admiring the garden, the trees and the magnificent and imposing homestead.
As a youngster I thought I should follow photography
as a career. I haven’t.
Jerry Uelsmann famously said something like this that
a camera is a license to explore. With that in mind, I fell in love with this
special niche called street photography. And that caused some havoc. So much so
that, some time ago, I was reported to the Law Society [as it then was] and
even to the Human Rights Commission. The complainant requested the Law Society
to move for my removal as a lawyer. Well, it didn’t happen; that is another
story waiting.
I haven’t pursued this wonderful hobby of street
photography for a number of years until last Saturday 18 March 2023. That was,
until I saw this man sitting quietly at a table in the bar at THE VIEW,
intently busy with his cell phone. It seems to me from a distance, as if he was
struggling to see properly – what was it? Bad lighting? Bad eyesight? That was
the least of my concerns. He was minding his own business; it was him and his
cell phone in deep conversation. The rest of the patrons at the bar were
concentrating on their drinks. This was going all the while the bagpipes were
“piping” as it were.
So, every body was going about their own business. And
I saw him sitting there. Without further thinking my old intuitions fired up
and I was zooming in on him.
I sat at the other side of the table. That would give
me the perfect place to observe him at close range. He was oblivious of my
presence. And I greeted him. He looked up, had to refocus to come from
where-ever his mind was – I could clearly see how he returned to planet earth
from his planet he was visiting. And he smiled and greeted me. I was very
welcome; I was welcome, even breaking into his solitude and interaction with
his cell.
And we started chatting. I asked him permission, which
I normally don’t do, but in this instance it was “in your face” camera-work, to
capture him. He was surprised and he tolerated me snapping away. He was such a
wonderful man to approach and to chat with. Another gentleman approached us and
called him outside because there was a group of people waiting for him. It was
my group; my group of genealogists. Only then did I find out that he was our
host.
While we were chatting and I clicking on my cell, the
bagpipers were busy. I noticed a lady which transpired to be Emily Pentz [the
only lady I saw that afternoon]. She went into the room to face the judges so
to speak and the door was closed. That left me outside next to the door with my
cell phone at the ready. I decided to make a short audio-visual presentation of
her piping [just the music] and of him smiling and chatting to me and
interacting with his cell phone. My friends were waiting outside while I was
having a ball of a time.
I took more than 40 photos of him – it is a character
study! I cannot remember whether I had such a opportunity to capture a persons
character impromptu!!! I edited some and today I will treat you to look at
James Mitchell.
Youtube video of my character study
You may also look at the audio visual on my youtube channel
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