Thursday 1 December 2022

Write... Edit... Publish... December 2022 : The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face

Honestly, can you believe the year is over? It's gone like a puff of smoke. But before it disappears altogether it's time for the last challenge at Write...Edit...Publish... based on Roberta Flack's iconic number - The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face.  Here is my entry, an excerpt from what's going to be a  rather long short story. I hope you  enjoy it.



Chiaroscuro


The first time...Wait, no, hang on a minute. I didn’t really see your face, did I now? So I damn well couldn’t think the sun and moon rose in your eyes, even if I had a mind to. Did I get a shivery someone-walking-over-my-grave feeling that this person will turn out to have some monumental impact on my life? No, to be honest, not even that.

 

Truth be told, I’d just felt a stab of interest and admired the photograph. Clear, crisp, high contrast, the chiaroscuro effects superbly employed. Not many people put up B/W photos on their profiles now, the vast majority of photography is carried out in colour, often overmanipulated, too vivid to be true with a million filters available at the touch of a single button. So it’s intriguing when one comes upon a stark portrait like that – a lady in the fashions of decades ago sitting formally at a Victorian table with an outsize art deco radio, a vase of flowers and a silver framed photo. Too senior to  have an independent social media profile, so I assumed it was the job of a  grandkid. Which, you told me later, was true, it was uploaded by you, she was your grandmother. Your picture was the one framed in silver, your babyface partially visible and anyway too blurry to see suns and moons anywhere. I liked that idea – the invisible profile pic. Meeting the requirement of being pictorially present without giving anything away, quiet, private, a little quirky. Also a tribute to your grandmother whose death anniversary had just passed. I liked that even better.

 

Anyway, all that came later. I saw the profile pic and on some insane impulse, messaged you about the provenance of the photo. It must have stood out from the wannabe-friends messages that beautiful women get by the bucketful. Different enough that you wrote back - the studio stamp was legible on the back, the name was clear, the address was too faded to read. No date, but roughly mid/late 70s from the baby photo. Even that had the same name at the back. You wrote you’d taken it out of the frame and checked. You even attached a picture of the stamp. It was like a gut punch – bony fist reaching out from a forgotten past and socking me a massive one. Took my breath clean away. I had come a long way from the last time I saw that name.

 

***


My mother’s uncle, Samudra or Sam Gain, was one of the first non-European  photographers employed by Bourne & Shepherd’s in post-colonial times. He later opened his own studio. It did moderately well, photography had a different weight those days, it was specialised and somewhat more seriously practiced  as art and/or business.

 

He used to take me to the studio often when I was a child. I remember watching him in the darkroom, the details of the images slowly getting filled in – it was magical to a child’s eye. He employed an assistant when the running around got too much. People joined, photographers and accountants came and went. I got to high school and had no more time to lounge around watching films being developed. The B/W photos in the window got replaced by colour prints. Sam got a little more stooped. But his hand was still steady on the shutter button. Then one day, he died – there in the darkroom, without any warning, any preparation, felled clean in one stroke. He was unmarried and had no other surviving relatives except my mother and her sisters. The studio with its forty-year load of images passed to them.

 

His three nieces and nephews-in-law knew zilch about photography or running a business. They agreed that there might be negatives of archival value stacked away in the backroom. But no one had the time to look through them. The junior photographer kept on for sometime, but he couldn’t carry the studio on his back like the original owner. The orders dried up, the staff dispersed and soon the doors were shuttered. The signboard got so dusty that the lettering - Focussed Gain’s could hardly be read.

 

***

That random photo opened up two parallel conversations – one with you, thus the details about your grandmother. The other with my parents about the studio, whether anything had been done with the little two-and-a-half-room corner of that large property, where Sam Gain had meticulously photographed his clientele.

 

No, they told me, the tenants on the other floors refused to move. The negatives were still untouched, gone beyond retrieval probably by now. The rooms couldn’t be let out unless someone cleared out the whole place. The property itself was getting into its 7th decade and needed massive repairs. No-one had the time or energy to take on that job. Or that of wrapping up a dead man’s existence. If he had had his own children, maybe they could have. But it didn’t seem fair to ask great nephews/nieces to upend their life and sort out the aftermath of his death.


“Why?” my mother asked, “after so long?”


I didn’t know the answer. Seriously, why? I was working abroad, settled in my life, I had left my hometown more than a decade ago. Why was I letting an old photograph randomly viewed, stir up what? I couldn’t even properly name it –  vague disquiet?  hankering? - for impractical explorations, to connect imaginary dots where probably not a speck existed.  


I resolved to put this whole wild goose digital chase to an end. But then you wrote you had made some enquiries of your own. The props – the table, the wooden polished radio, had never been part of your grandmother’s home, no one could identify where the photo was taken. That silver frame was the only thing that everyone remembered and that was with you.  There was something rather odd, an undercurrent in the messages which I couldn’t pin down. Maybe there were some dots to connect after all.

 

WC - 1000

FCA

Tagline : A random photo can open up a can of worms...

~~~~~~~~


Okay, so that's as far as I can get with the word limit. The full thing will probably run to about 5K or more, we'll see. The MC will go back to his hometown, to his great uncle's studio and discover things that connect the grandmother and granddaughter to Sam Gain. Against the backdrop of B/W photography in mid-20th century Calcutta.

Will the MC fall for the granddaughter? Should he? Will that make the story more interesting? What do you think?

Incidentally, Bourne & Shepherd was one of the oldest photography studios in the world, set up in 1863 and finally closed a few years ago. There were many studios during the 60's and 70's in Calcutta and studio portraits did good business. 

I'm hoping this story when done will become the final title of a collection of shorts themed on the word 'return.' 


Read the other entries here:




~~~~~~~~

Like the previous years, Plague Year 3 has been mixed, life has continued to throw challenges at an unprecedented rate, some I've enjoyed and some not so much. I am expecting the next year to bring more changes - keeping my lamps trimmed and ready for them, nothing fazed! Most changes pan out positive given time - at least in my experience, anyway. 


Wish you all a happy festive season and a wonderful, joyous, healthful, fun and tranquil 2023! Much travel for those who like travelling, stillness for those who prefer to be still and a good balance for those who like both. Keep smiling, keep writing. 


38 comments:

  1. Oooh. I am loving this - and anxious to read more (when you are ready).

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    1. Thanks, I'm so glad you enjoyed this. A long way to go though.

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  2. Hari OM
    All end of year wishes for you too, Nila... and may your 'pen' continue as eloquently as it has here today. I LOVE this intriguing snippet! Could it be an unknown cousin, a stranger who perhaps took a fancy to the silver-frame prop and that alone became an heirloom elsewhere... oh the possibilities imagined! Have fun completing it! YAM xx

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    1. Thank you for reading and for that angle on the story! So pleased you enjoyed it.

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  3. Love the connections this piece brings up. The randomness of life and how it causes intriguing twists and turns. As a romance writer, I always want the people to find that deep connection and fall in love!

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    1. I will def take that into account. Slow burn, I think :) Thanks, Jemi.

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  4. Such a mystery. Well written. I think he should fall for the granddaughter. When they meet in person, I hope there is detailed description about her resemblance to the grandmother.
    Nancy

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    1. Glad you liked it. Thank you for the ideas and the feedback.

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  5. This was an amazing beginning of a story. I want to know more. it might even become a novella. So many different possibilities to explore. Write it, Nila! I want to read it.

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    1. I'm too impatient for that. :) I want my endings written by 5/6K words max. The problem with writing poetry is that one is done and dusted in a few hundred words max and gets used to the rewards of short wordcounts. But we shall see, Sam gain might have other ideas... :) Thank you for the feedback!

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  6. Hey Nila, as you say in your tagline: A random photo can open up a can of worms...This random photo is intriguing and could very well lead to a full-fledged story. I won't say novella, as you, like me, can be verbose (in a good way). It may well become a long novel! I hope you find the time between moves!

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    1. I'm starting out with that specific WC in mind, but we both know that stories have a mind of their own, don't they? and decide for themselves how long or short they're going to be... :) Thanks for everything, Denise.

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  7. Hi Nilanjana. I am a fan of your words. I liked how you interpreted the prompt, especially your description of the photograph is so intriguing. I'd love to see where this goes ... some time later?

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    1. Hi Sonia, I'm so pleased you liked the interpretation. Thank you.

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  8. I want to read the rest of the story too.
    I remember hearing that song when I was pregnant with my second child and... i think I'll write a poem about it.

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    1. Look forward to reading the poem, Kristin! Thanks for the feedback.

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  9. So intriguing! I can't wait to see where it takes you.
    Happy Holidays!
    Wishing you and yours peace and happiness!

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    1. Guaranteed to take me places undreamt of haha. All stories have a mind of their own and insist on their own trajectory, at least mine do. Glad you enjoyed the read.

      Happy holidays to you and yours too, Renee!

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  10. Hi Nila - I love the story and the history, backstory and perhaps their future story. I glanced a while ago and wondered if my grandmother and her 2nd husband had used Bourne + Shepherd in Kolkata ... as they lived there for a while - possibly 14 years til WW2. I have snaps from that time (1930s) ... but I don't think any formal shots ... now when I look around I'll keep my eyes open - should, which I doubt, anything relevant pop up.

    What a great idea for your WEP story line ... so many lines you could go down ... fun to think about - now you've got me going! Cheers Hilary

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    1. That should be such a treasure, because sometime in the 90's or maybe 80's the studio was in a fire and lost a lot of archival negatives...My passports got coloured photos in the 90's I think, not before that..

      Glad you enjoyed the excerpt! Thanks, Hilary.

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  11. I loved the story and it was enhanced by your personal memory. A unique take on this theme, for sure.

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    1. Thank you, Lee. I'm so glad you enjoyed the entry.

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  12. Hi,
    As I read your submission, I thought about what could have happened, and I too thought you had opened a can of worms that should be explored. I hope you do it. This could be a novel because you are an expert at details.
    Have a merry Christmas and a safe crossover into 2023.
    Shalom aleichem

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    1. Okay your comment took after all, Pat! Thank you. For the feedback, the wishes and the trouble emailing. Much appreciated. Merry Christmas and a happy new year 2023 to you too.

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  13. Interesting. A random photograph leading to so much. Maybe there's another hidden in the frame too? Who knows. I don't know about falling in love, maybe some other unexpected twist. Anyway, good story.

    Dewey Decimal System Day is December 10. 📚
    “The only limit to your success is your own imagination” – Shondra Rhimes
    I wish you a merry holiday ⛄ season, and a New Year full of peace, joy, and creativity.

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    1. Cool, let's see what unexpected twist comes up. Glad you liked the excerpt. Thank you for the detailed feedback.

      Happy holidays and Happy New Year 2023 to you too.

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  14. Connections and coincidences - they often make for the most intriguing stories, a character knocked off course by something totally unexpected. I would be interested to see where this goes.

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    1. Thank you for reading and the critique. Much appreciated. I personally find the randomness of life a fascinating base for all kinds of stories.

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  15. You are a brilliant story teller! It's amazing how such a seemingly small thing can mean so much and open new pathways in our lives and thoughts, isn't it?

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    1. Exactly, Laura! - the smaller the thing, the more massive the potential impact on our lives and more intriguing the ramifications. Thanks for your feedback.

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  16. Ooooh, would love to know more about their discoveries.

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  17. That was a fun read. I thought for a moment at the scene break that it was a true story you were sharing. So it's obviously well written. I don't know if I want them to fall in love or to realize they're related. That makes me think of "The Noel Diary," with Justin Heartly (Christmas movie with lots of twists).

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  18. I enjoyed this story so much! Especially that shifting between points of view where more information is subtly added, yet the reader remains intrigued as to how all will work out. Looking forward to the next installment!

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  19. Don’t know about a can of worms, more a can of butterflies!!! Beautifully written and lots of suspense. Well done!

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