Flowers of the misty hills, or the coke machine.











Which would you perceive as the more interesting object?

Months back, during a time in a highland theme park, I found myself in the company of a peculiar girl (a friend of mine) who set about taking random pictures with my Nikon Digi-cam. From signboards to broken railway tracks to electrical pipes at the ceiling and the above coke-machine, she was –how should I put it- enthralled by them (or so she seems). I was used to such behaviour in photographing; I myself being a person who would suddenly bolt out to take pictures of an interesting chair that resides on the outside of a public loo, still, I couldn’t help but be slightly intrigued and humoured.

Later in the day, while she was on a ride my weight restricted me to participate in (sadly, but a truthful reflection of my pathetic condition), I strode off to a nearby greenhouse that held somewhat exquisite flowers. Being a terrible photographer, but a photographer nonetheless, I spent a great deal of time attempting close-ups of the flowers and (what I hopefully hope would be) artistic shots. As we were on the way back, I showed her the pictures I took hoping to gain her interest, but at a glance she said, “I’m not interested in pictures of flowers,” and walked off to examine large branches arranged as walls for a restaurant, leaving me quite confounded (and disappointed, as I would’ve liked to impress her).

So it got me wondering, months after as I finally uploaded those pics into my com; if photography shows beauty and what we perceive as beauty or intrigue, then does preferring to photos of different expression of interest show how much someone perceive the sort of beauty they would, well, deem as beauty?

Perhaps people who find the flower beautiful would see beauty as beauty portrayed, or perhaps they’re one who deems beauty as beauty deemed by others (flowers being an object of beauty). Perhaps people of this group would find beauty of the outside, beauty deprived from the first impression.

But the coke machine, well, at first glance, it’s just a coke machine. An old object that once had the privilege and pride of vending the world’s most famous carbonated drink to anyone with a ringgit and 20 cents (alright, I was being exaggerative), standing solitarily and ignored by the oblivious eyes of the ignorant. But perhaps someone else might perceive something different from it, something deep within the initial portrayal and the outside look. Perhaps the machine signifies strength in standing amidst change, or solitude with a side that cannot be perceived by the normal eyes, or cokes in bottles are once vended such as this (I didn’t know that, serious).

Then, if you imply it to life and humans, which beauty captures you? The flower; such as the girl that’s pretty, sexy and beautiful and much adored by everyone else. Or the coke machine; the solitary entity which intriguing side is obscured by the ignorant eyes.

But then, when you come to think of it, everyone perceives beauty at first portrayal. But sometimes, someone might just look harder, and see something completely different in something else.

So, which would you deem is the more beautiful picture?