Seasonal Affective Disorder

The weather is depressed today, the sky is a soaked wet grey blanket with no movement, and it’s cold, about 2 degrees. Three layers, big hat and murder gloves kind of weather. So why exactly am I walking around Huddersfield slowly soaking in something somewhere between sleet and drizzle? To make some photographs, obvs.

I was on a roll; twins in pink coats and matching Disney umbrellas; a nervous man carrying a big book on evolution; a large asian woman with her hands down the front of her pants and lots more creatures lurking out of the rain in the market.

It was a good walk, until I hit the mysterious 18th frame. I had just seen the best Indian eccentric in town and had ran around the block through the square and dashed across the road to put myself right in his path. Today his outfit of choice, a red christmas jumper, brown flares with heeled boots and a large brown leather case he kept holding up in front of himself at a 90 degree angle every ten steps.

I stepped up and snapped him just as he put the case down on the floor for another inspection. Frame 18. I hit the wind lever just to hear the familiar crunch of film skipping on its wheels. This problem has plagued my Pentax for weeks, and I can’t find a fix. I even asked a guy in a camera shop, and he had no idea. Funnily he has no idea about any camera I ask him about. My tip would be not to trust young men who dress like old men to sell old cameras as if that’s the only validation they need to be good at this job.

I ran into another shotta, I saw him last minute as he was photographing the tops of buildings and I rarely have time to look up. His camera was extremely silver and even had an orange light. Maybe a contax G2 I thought, fancy I thought. He was tall and dressed well, and my camera is black with no lights. I thought it best not to attempt any kind of discourse.

I guess I might need a new Pentax body, doesnt matter, nothing is important, but then again everything is important.