Fleet market, Greenwich

My photo expo is finished.

Just before taking home my photo, we went to the Greenwich fleet market, near the Viewfinder Gallery and the Cuty Shark DRL station. Great contacts with people!

Connect

"Julie connect with a man, photo by Klara.

Connect with the a man, if not other, even the Iron man staying always on the bench, sun or rain, summer or winter always ready to connect with whoever comes. I first looked at him, the Iron man, the man with the big hat and huge fingers, then I was told: smile at me.

My smile is a bit sad.

I have no other man to connect to. Sometimes, if not all the time I do wish I had one, but I usually hide the feeling, even from myself. "At 75 past, what do you want?" Then a tiny voice whispers in me:"but my aunt found someone when she was past 73" and I always did believe I may have that luck too..." The reasonable side of me answers it: "You have so many joys and pleasures in your life now, already!"

Yes, I have.

Only when I met the Iron man and suddenly want to hold his hand and would like him to hold also mine, not only as "one of many" but care, for a few seconds, my heart hurts. I remember my father holding my hands. I remember my lovers holding my hands. My last husband, when he still enjoyed walking holding my hands.

I do not stay long time "there" - I take a good romance and forget all the "real world" around me, a book where every heroine finds always the way to gain his beloved hart and retain it for all her life.

Of course, romances always finish early - do not go farther in the life of the couple.

It is always sweet to dream. Always sweet to hope. Even if only the seconds I hold the Iron man's hand.

Then I stand up and go just a bit farther, and discover that in fact he is a father sitting there and waiting and looking at her small daughter playing near the river. He is not there for me at all. I am not there to meet him. I am there with my friend Klara, on a photo-walk and I forgot to put a memory card in my Canon camera before I came to London bridge and I missed all the photos I thought I did take.

Last time I took so many photos without taking any, in fact, was seven years ago. A year after I separated from my husband, ex now. Just when he remarried. I am happy he did. I am happy alone. Happy alone! Happy alone!

I am not alone. I have family not far. My family who is far keeps contact. I have now a friend with whom I can go to walk. I have blog and photo pots I can meet and walk. I have other speakers who from time to time do listen to me, to whom I listen.

I have all the people of London, Paris, Washington, seaside, countryside, I meet, I look, I photograph and speak to.

I am not alone in the world!

Storytelling

From Public Speaking books, I arrived to Storytelling, as I realise more and more the importance of telling a story, usually personal story (but it can be someone else's too) in a good Speech.

More I go, more the books move me.

More they bring back memories, explain me things about myself. As I prepare my speech "Persuasive one" for the Toastmasters, that will have a story about a part of my life, and one that became then important to me that my father told me 30 years before.

Of course, for the moment, the big problem is: should I listen to the "rule" which tells to make the story go from old towards new, or may I, as in a book or novel, insert my father story when the moment I did remember it at the time I am speaking, which is when I was 44 years old and before my first public speech in France.

Not that I have given many before!

Reading the book on Story as Persuasive method, I remembered why I did not give any more speech from age 12.

My second language is not English but Romanian. I was taught a few days (or were they weeks?) by a Romanian Student whom my mother offered a place to sleep to prepare me for the Romanian School they decided I have to go.

Until then, I spoke only Hungarian.

Thinking, I knew enough to begin, they send me to this Girls School. The first day, unexpectedly, the teacher told to all in the class:

"we have a new between us, Julie Kertesz, stand up! do you speak Romanian?"
Instead of replying in proper language, once I understood what she wanted from me, I translated word by word from Hungarian, and answered something like:

"a bit" - or "one small" - which was not really nice and had double meaning too. For the next two years, all my classmates mocked me, called me ABIT instead of my name. I never learned well Romanian and hated that school.

After two years "passing through" I obtained from my parents to put me back in a Hungarian class and school, and even though I did not think any more of that first same that lasted two years even in the Hungarian School, I just told one girl what to say to the group but never stood up to try to speak for myself, for the class.

I will not speak about this incident this time, but a day, I'll find an occasion...

Stories like this, true and sad, take a lot of energy from me, and I'll have to put them in a more positive context to see them with smiling face.

Julie by Roger

Of course, the best images of me are not self-portraits, because from near when I take my nose is even bigger as in life, but also because having done so many I aim now to fun and expressions or showing sorrow or age.

Thanks to Roger and his great camera, in the mild light of the Photo museum where we went last Friday to see André Kertesz's pictures about Reading.

They begin with the oldest photo, three poor boys reading together in 1917! and span many years. I did not know until recently, that I had the same passion as him: taking people reading photos!

Take a look at some of my photos in the set or stop this when you had enough.

I begun my group of People Reading a few years ago on Flickr, and also collecting my own. They are a good and easy subject, so absorbed in reading that they do not see most of the time you take a picture of them. So many ages, places, you can read, too! Some read even walking or in a swimming pool!

I do love so many of them, difficult to eliminate any - but I have put some of my favourites in front. As I love reading, I also appreciate anyone reading, any place.

Julie by Roger

Of course, the best images of me are not self-portraits, because from near when I take my nose is even bigger as in life, but also because having done so many I aim now to fun and expressions or showing sorrow or age.

Thanks to Roger and his great camera, in the mild light of the Photo musuem where we went last Friday to see André Kertesz's pictures about Reading.

They begin with the oldest photo, three poor boys reading together in 1917! and span many years. I did not know until recently, that I had the same passion as him: taking people reading photos!

I begun my group of People Reading a few years ago on Flickr, and also collecting my own. They are a good and easy subject, so absorbed in reading that they do not see most of the time you take a picture of them. So many ages, places, you can read, too! Some read even walking or in a swimming pool!

A year ago

I come to this apartment a year ago, and this is how they looked then. Now, I put them in a corner, with a small table and the telephone between them, on two different walls.

As I enter in my second year in London, and in my place it does become more and more "mine" and I feel more "at home".

Each place has its usage.

One of the sofas let's me see the sun rising.

The other sofa, is my place to read and watch TV with different light. And sometimes, I even eat there instead of the table or the kitchen. I work sometimes with my computer facing the sun rise, or the tree that is blown by the wind, like this morning, other times, in my room where I have all installed, printer, side disk, etc. and a bug nice chair.

If I feel really tired or lazy, I read in my bed where I have also good light, sitting up with lots of pillows behind me. Looking out at the sun going down and the clouds gathering and moving, and ignoring the huge house somewhere also not so far.

Yesterday afternoon, I set there, tired, before I went to the Toastmasters and delighted in the forms the clouds formed and how fast they come and went. The life also comes and goes, we just to grab the moment as much as we can.

Viewpoint Gallery Expo

London Independent Photographers expo in Greenwich, and yes, I had at least one or two of the visitors (like this picture does prove) to look also at my picture.

It is of course not easy to see it down and finally seeming so small and without frame (also I did provide one but was not good enough) but anyway, I can tell from now on, if I want or need, that I "did expose in London".

I did expose also in the Paris's suburb, near where I lived.

Here are some of the pictures I have taken at the Gallery, it does teach me a lot: what kind of pictures are well seen, how big it has to be, how it has to be framed, etc.


But really, I get a LOT more people looking at my pictures through the blogs, through Flickr, and generally the web. Today, Google Allert, showed me a site where one can see my "last pictures" and my "most interesting or liked" ones. A site I was even not aware of:

Djibnet Julie Kertesz

The most comment I have from you, my dear readers and from the flickr photo site (sometimes 2000 visitors a day - difficult to believe even) far away from the 15 visitors we had Saturday at Viewfinder Gallery. But each has a special interest.

I have now a photo of my photo looked at in "direct"!