old pear awaits the end with dignity
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A client’s child leaves behind a pear that was brought along to their photo session. I discover it lying dismissed and abandoned on the floor of my front porch days after the shoot, and reach down to dispose of it when I suddenly take closer notice. An old pear bruised from too much handling and being dropped on the ground multiple times, its thinning skin and deep wrinkles forming at the stem suggest the end is near for this forgotten fruit. But the pear appears to be gracefully and stoically awaiting it’s destined demise. I hold it in my hands for a moment and it’s as if I can feel the life force slowly leaving it, and this makes me oddly sad. Without further consideration, I quickly decide that since this neglected pear wasn’t able to provide nourishment to the child as was intended, it should at least be properly remembered.
The pear is feeble now, so I must handle it delicately as I take it from one location to another. I photograph it on the steps, on a railing, next to a log, and sitting majestically on a large rock. The pear and I explore the boundaries of my yard contemplating the proper setting for it’s memorial portrait. My kids periodically pass by and think I’ve gone mad. “You’re now photographing pears?”, they ask in disbelief.
After an arduous and somewhat lengthy photo session where the aging pear performed brilliantly in a wide variety of settings, a storm blows in and we quickly retreat to the front porch. Where it began for us. With little light remaining, I take a few more shots before the weather worsens, this being the final image. When I gather the withered and worn pear in my hands my fingernail accidentally punctures its paper thin skin and it oozes its last juicy breath.
Silly as it may sound I learned something about myself in the process of photographing this pear. To photograph someone or “some thing” thoughtfully, I inevitably fall a little bit in love with my subject. It seems that it has to happen, and I’m glad that it happens. Much of the time it’s a great inconvenience to go through life feeling so much about everything, and I often wish I wasn’t quite so sensitive. But with camera in hand the very thing that can be a burden becomes a blessing, and in these moments I don’t wish to be different than I am.
It was, until the very end, a fine and noble pear.
~Cynthia
