cArte dE vIsitE

‘Say something’

‘You are asking the wrong person’

‘Come on. This is a free country. Not going to get sued for telling others your opinion’

‘About what?’

‘This and that’

‘I’m not an expert neither talented’

‘Rules are meant to be broken. Spill it out’

‘I think it’s empty. Meaningless’

‘Ouch. Very honest and transparent’

 ‘Never mind. Jujur kunci cinta’

‘What? dari blog mana kau kutip ni?’

‘Blog walking. Anyway, what makes you think so? I meant the art’

‘Don’t know how to put it into sentences’

‘But...’

‘It feels like something missing. Incomplete piece of art. Cantik dari jauh. Kosong

bila dekat’

‘why?’

‘Have to know which one comes first. As for me, I chose art over technology. Photograph is personal, how one sees the world which indeed is different from others. And I want to see that. The different perspective, the unique one, the world that one lives in. Each photograph tells its own story, very historic and monumental. Photography is therapy, being creative and one of the way of sharing your life and moments with others ’

‘What’s with the vice versa?’’

‘It’s like a Cinderella story. Forget the details; the facts that you have to let others to really know who you are, your identity, your way of thinking, the honesty and merely focus on the technical stuff like the shining glass shoe you wear, the bombshell look you have, exclusive revealing and shimmering prom gown covered the body, the horse ride to the destination and all you care is the prince first impression which is not going to last forever. learning and mastering the skills; the framing or shot length, the angle of view or movement, the lighting and exposure, the focal length and the aperture, the color fringing, the autofocus, the techniques and the aspect ratio are important, but the talent as well, the art values. Just don’t totally leave it to the technology, making it so superficial, hoping with the simple wave of magic stick from the grand fairy, your photo now entitled the master piece of the century, upload it in flickr and let others to praise. I now pronounced you a professional photographer. Thank you’

‘Wow. A very intriguing story. Never heard that version before’

‘You should read more. Membaca jambatan ilmu’

‘ok, that’s the line for today. Classic. ‘

‘aku tak tau la betul ke tidak. Aku sebat je bagi pendapat ni. Selalu aku rasa tak kisah award-winning ke tidak. Tak ada hal. Janji ada rasa di situ. Gambar untuk mencipta kenangan. Jadi biarkan gambar itu hidup tanpa kelihatan plastic. Tanpa artificial flavor atau preservatives. Biarkan dia kelihatan murni. Polos tanpa excessive enhancement of technology. With minimal helps perhaps, tapi bukan mutlak.’

‘Shall I read between the lines, may be?’

‘perempuan. Kalau setiap gambar ada kenangan tersendiri, setiap perempuan dicipta dengan kecantikan semulajadi. Mengapa harus dilakukan pemaksaan.’

Dia mengubah duduk. Kaki dirapatkan melunjur. Ngilu terasa. Kebas setelah lama tak mengubah posisi. ‘ But these people, they love to let others suffer. Asyik kerjanya membanding beza. Kena guna itu, kena pakai ini. Mesti buat begitu. Jangan sesekali begini. Terlalu banyak keterbatasannya, keinginan pula bagai di luar sedar. daripada hasutan tak masuk dek akal, kau akan dapat melihat banyak perempuan menderita merana. Perasan cantik tapi plastik. Nak senyum pun aku rasa dah tak boleh. Tu belum lagi yang sanggup buang agama ke tepi: dah cakap itu najis, tapi nak jugak dikutip. Dah cakap itu mengubah kejadian Allah, tapi nak jugak dipilih, dah cakap itu syirik yang jelas, tapi nak jugak diambil. Put all the things together, blend it with sugar and spice walah...hasilnya, kau akan dapat berkenalan dengan perempuan dari look-at-me-look-at-me planet. Mahu perhatian kurang peradaban’

‘I can see where it goes, if you changed too much of the whole thing, you may end up with nothing.’

‘Ubah seni untuk teknology dan ubah rupa untuk dapat nama. They sing in the same frequency’

‘ but guess the later is more dangerous. Kau jeopardizing own personality to become somebody on tv. Kau nak sangat gelaran. Tercun, terhangat, tercantik, terayu, next top itu, extreme make over ini. Akhirnya viewers tak dapat nak nampak diri kau yang sebenar tapi lebih tertarik untuk menonton berapa besar berubahnya kau lepas di touch up, lepas diberi consultation, lepas dibuat segala macam process yang pastinya untuk kau menjadi sesuatu yang cantik dipandang. Ialah, nak masuk tv la katakan, walau betapa kau letak label; supaya mereka lebih berkeyakinan tinggi, berdaya saing, maju kehadapan dan entah hapa-hapa lagi tapi the main thing is the presence of the commercial value. Tu yang penting. Ye la, sapa nak approve budget, susah payah cari sponsors kalau tak pulang modal? Tak dapat nak tinggikan rating? tak compatible dengan stesen tv lain, kang tak dapat pulak nak jadi stesen tv terpopular satu malaya.’

‘win the title and cash, grab the contract, get the fame and the glam. Itu umpan, sapa kisah dengan jati diri dan memajukan bangsa atau apa saja. Penonton pulak hanya mahu yang lawa-lawa sahaja. Sapa kisah mulut kau macam mana, perangai kau macam hapa. Agama kau letak ke mana. We’ve been in secular zone since ever. Nak cover kau vote sebab dia cantik, kau cakap je sebab dia perfect package. A very nice try. Untuk apa pertandingkan rupa kalau kau tahu semua itu qada’ dan qadar dari Nya?rukun iman, kan?’

‘back to the topic. Ada benda kadang hanya cantik untuk dipandang, kosong bila digenggam. Tak bererti. sebab tu aku kurang faham dengan persaingan technology sekarang dalam bidang seni. Aku tak menghalang, welcome. Tapi jangan sampai mencacatkan’

‘Technology bukan trend. Tapi untuk mengembangkan seni. Bukan juga technology sebagai basis dan art sebagai picisan. Macam tu maksud kau?’

‘kalau semua tu dari aku mesti aku dah boleh berlagak bagus. Naaa, ni takat apa yang aku baca. Rasa kurang senang manusia pencinta seni. Aku bukan. Tapi mungkin betul apa yang diorang cakap. Gambar nampak cantik, tapi bila kau cuba cari makna dan dalami gambar tu, ternyata kosong. May be macam perempuan yang pakai botox kut, nampak cun dari jauh. No wrinkles, tapi bila kau cuba perati dan teliti dari dekat, hampeh kaku beku nak puji pun lidah jadi kelu’

‘or macam perempuan cantik yang bila kau nampak kau nak, bila dah dapat kau menyesal. Macam ipod.’

 ‘So, who are you? Miss anti-tech now?’

‘Again, I don’t want to see the trend more than I would like to see the passion and the talent’

‘Passion for the technology?’

‘Nope, only for the art’

Too much Technology-dependent:talentless.The Composition skills:That’s another difference between the photography and the snapshot.