Wednesday, 11 March 2015

On encounters, bees and pictures

As I was walking through the alleys of the Friedrichswerder cemetery, I saw a beautiful statue and stopped to take a picture. I was looking for the right angle, there was a bed of blooming crocuses on the ground that would look really nice together with the sculpture.

Crocuses in Friedrichswerder cemetery, March 2015 © Emmanuelle Chaze

An elderly man was walking nearby, and I could see him stopping and turning around to look at me. As I was taking my picture, I felt uneasy being there, thinking that maybe I offended someone who was here to mourn in peace and this person felt hurt by the fact that I was leisurely taking pictures in such a place. But no, when I turned around he was all smiles. We began chatting, he just wanted to tell me that he too used to take a lot of pictures around cemeteries, and that it was such a rich place in terms of sculptures and history. We had a lovely exchange before he left, and I was very happy about this encounter.

Crocuses in Friedrichswerder cemetery, March 2015 © Emmanuelle Chaze

I resumed my "find the perfect frame for your picture" quest. At this moment, it dawned on me that there was also a very deep sound resonating around me. Like a buzzing. Or a bee, to which I'm allergic. I decided to ignore it and kept looking for my perfect spot, found it, took a couple of pictures. But this buzzing wouldn't stop. Looking at my feet, in the middle of the crocuses bed, I realized I was standing amongst a scattered beehive. They too must have liked pictures, as not one of them bothered me while I was trespassing their space.