Snap

Why do we take photos? The one above, for example. I took this just over a week ago, as I arrived in the South Pacific rapture of l’Ile des Pins in New Caledonia. Was it not enough for me to stand awestruck and drink in the stupendous turquoise beauty of the scene? Why did I have to imprison it in pixels before running across the talcum-fine sand and sighing into aquamarine bliss?

I think the first reason lies in the “pinch me” reflex: a need to capture visual evidence of having really experienced such a too-good-to-be-true place. Could this really be happening? Better take a photo to make sure, to produce as Exhibit A when I wake up from my holiday-dream. Hey presto: paradise proved.

The second reason is, of course, so that you can show others. Not from some sadistic “look where I’ve been nyer-nyerdy-nyer-nyer” impulse. (Well, not always. Although I must say it did give me a thrill to feel everyone crane their necks in our wintry Parisian café as I showed LSP my vacation photos on the laptop. Even the impassive waiter hovered excessively, taking much longer than usual with the cruet and bread.) Our essential human urge, when faced with the good fortune of finding such perfection, is to share it. As freely and broadly as possible.

I was lucky enough to be able to discover this breathtaking place with my Mum and my sister, which made it even more priceless through our shared, gleeful disbelief. (Indelible, heart-swelling memories of happiness which burst to the surface the instant I look at our pictures.) But for all those dear to me who weren’t there, I have this image for you. Isn’t it wonderful? I hope it makes you feel the same warmth I feel when I look at it.

And one day, may we stand together, grinning, in front of an equal splendour, and take a photo of it.

P.S. Thank you for your continued interest in this blog, and sorry for taking such a long break. I was so touched when in Australia to have so many of you ask when my next entry was going to be. Now that I’m back in my Parisian garret after such a lovely time in Summer, I hope you’ll keep checking in and not be too disappointed.