One is the loneliest number that you'll ever do
Two can be as bad as one
It's the loneliest number since the number one
So opens that wonderful song
One written by
Harry
Nielson and made
really famous by
Three Dog
Night who recorded their version in 1969. Practically everyone else
has recorded a cover of the song since then: from the Muppets, to the New
Seekers all the way through to the Australian singer Johnny Farnham. You might
have even heard the song on an
X Files soundtrack. Why, even Lisa Simpson has
had a go with this one (in
The Simpsons Episode 553 for all you fans out
there).
But, today we're here to talk about line number two: Two can
be as bad as one. It isn't always, though, as I suggest in the title of this
post. During my time on the street I get to witness scenes, lovely and not so
lovely, inhabited by two people. Sometimes they are sweet and tender moments
like this,
A Kiss Goodbye (Lisbon Portugal June 2013)
And then there are those sweet and romantic moments, moments
when I know that there is love in the air, like this one
(if I'd been any closer I would have been sitting at the table with them, yet
they didn't notice me at all),
Romance and a Special Date (Katoomba Australia May 2014)
You could say that, as these two photographs show, two is
not a bad number at all. In fact you might say it's a great number, one of the
best! But, often I see scenes, and witness moments that don't seem quite so
love filled. Of course sometimes the scenes are what we might term neutral,
such as this scene inhabited by two people who are clearly strangers to each
other
A Seat to Oneself (Perth Australia January 2014)
This, as we see, is a simple scene on a railway station
platform, one person waiting, another just walking on by. Other times, the
two people may be strangers, but there seems somehow to be a connection of some
sort; a story we can imagine. Or perhaps the scene could be seen as symbolic in some way for some viewers. As in these pictures,
Every Face Tells a Story (Melbourne Australia December 2012)
Strangers in a Park (Perth Australia December 2013)
But, more often than you might imagine, I witness and get to
share in moments involving people who might be known to each other or might
not. Like in this one,
Not on Speaking Terms (Melbourne Australia June 2012)
As you can probably guess from the title, I have imagined
these two as known to each other, but not on speaking terms. Someone has
suggested they are father and son who've had a falling out. Who can say? One of
the mysteries of the street. Sometimes (again more often than you might
imagine), I am privileged to witness and share moments of high (or
perhaps the correct adjective is low) emotion between two people
who it is clear are known to each other. Like these for example,
It's Just Not Working Out (Echuca Australia July 2011)
Sisters Thinking (Ramsgate England February 2013)
So Much for Our Happy Holiday (Echuca Australia April 2012)
Then there are those scenes and moments
that exude emotion, but whether that emotion is a positive or a
negative one, can't be worked out. Such as in this one,
La conversation intime entre deux amis (Melbourne Australia August 2011)
Is this simply an intimate conversation between friends as
the title suggests? Or is it something deeper, more serious? We can only
imagine. Whatever the emotions detected or being experienced by the people in
these scenes, I do not treat images such as this lightly. The people
photographed are sharing with me something of their personal and private lives.
I can't, of course, know exactly what they are experiencing or thinking or
feeling; my role is to share and record the moment. Emotions witnessed or
recorded are of, of course, sometimes more positive, happier even. Such as this
where the two people seem to be sharing a joke or a private happy moment,
I'm Saying Nothing (Katoomba Australia April 2014)
Again, I have no idea what these two are talking about, or
thinking or feeling. It's just that the scene feels to me more positive,
lighter. Still, it is a private moment and I am grateful to have been there to
share it.
A good street photograph will evoke an emotional response in
the viewer. And if the image itself has people expressing an emotion, then all
the better. It makes it easier for us as viewers and fellow human beings to
empathize and perhaps even understand what's going on, how the people
photographed are feeling. A little glimpse can be gained into the emotional
lives of others.
One last thought about the number two. There are scenes one
sees on the street where the number two is both good and bad, depending on
who's who. In such cases it is often the eyes that will tell you that three is most definitely a crowd
Holding Tight (Melbourne Australia June 2014)