Light

Mel posted this photo of her Japanese host brother on her Tumblr, and the way she captured the light struck me. People generally avoid taking photos with the sunlight coming from behind and perhaps this is usually not a desired light effect (ok, what do I know about photography), but the way it spills and mists over his face in this photo, white like a fog over his face, stirred up some emotions and memories in me. Fragile emotions of fragile moments. A few times I have seen this for just seconds or split-seconds at a time, light spilling from the window over one's face, and those seconds seem surreal, so beautiful; the light seems to embrace you from behind.

It reminds me of my favourite Chinese song, Leehom's Di Yi Ge Qing Chen (The First Morning). The few times I saw this, the surreal fragility it brought upon the faces, I wondered if it was just my eyes playing tricks on me. I never knew how to describe it. Once I caught an image for a split-second that was so heartwrenchingly beautiful that I attempted to sketch it, but I hated myself for being unable to convey the fragility of the light enveloping their faces like a bride's veil.