Changi

Leaving on a Jet Plane

 Passports, Portraits - and Prayers

 Tarmac

 - an unexpected favorite monochrome  -

 

Just recently, I had a "very personal experience like no other".  Of all places pa, in Changi Airport.  I've seen "different versions" of it in local teleseryes, local and foreign, even movies too, local and foreign.   Not until that afternoon at Changi  .   .   .  when the REAL thing happened to me.

Me, I've taken thousands of SOLO [one-on-one] portraits - the past so many years - in living rooms, verandas, garages, school campuses, hotels, studios, corporate offices, radio station booths, restaurants, coffee places, inside jet planes, malls, basketball/football/volleyball venues, locker rooms, beaches, beach houses, cabanas, island resorts, bancas, dugouts - whatever -- Been there , done [that] portraits there - Or so I thought    -  -  - until I had to see a friend off  - flying to the US of A.  {She's making career move [chance of a lifetime type of thing] }.

Solo Portraits over a late lunch/coffee/croissants  whatever - the resto names don't really matter now - Been doin that a WHOLE LOT the past two years or so  - real friends, true friends, lasting friends [is there a diference here??]- Hundreds of ->Tons! of Solos - [really touching, at times, when i browse  back thru my hard discs - occasionally]  

And all those shoots were ALL so, so light and happy and "easy on my soul".  And so was that afternoon at Changi - pretty much with the same demeanor and good cheer - and humor - only, as I was taking the final portrait sequences, just b4 she had to board, I was literally praying/and begging [inside] the Guy Upstairs - for the shoot to NEVER end  - As If  !!

Wrapping up, taking the last 5-10 frames - I felt oh so, so sad inside I wanted to "die" [course, that never happened to me before, in a portrait shoot, at that].

Well - No need to elaborate on what happened next  .   .   . 

 at this point it's been done already.

{Thing is I will never post those beautiful monochrome portraits I took that afternoon - for one thing, she doesn't want me to AND I've never posted my current [past two years to the present] personal solo portrait shoots on this blog [anyway], except for a select few [people from my past ], maybe, and some of my niece and nephew}

Suffice it to say - after my friend's jet plane finally took off - I was left in a "weird daze"  and to fight it - I just took monochromes again  - stayed a few hours - then took my [solo] flight back to Manila [whilst praying for her return].

Flew back to NAIA, scooted back home, 

tucked my passport in it's place, 

 downloaded her portraits to my hard drives,

then said a few prayers again.

 .  .  . but No, she's not my girlfriend - but always a cherished one.

brosi gonzales