# 1, Quicksnap

On this cold night I find myself crouched in the middle of the road looking at a lightpost. The disposable camera in my right jacket pocket brushes my fingers and suddenly I see the lamp differently. Now there isn’t only a lamp, but a moon. And this deep dark blue sky around the moon suddenly fills a camera frame wonderfully with the warmth of the lamp and the cold white circle in the sky. My head is now swerving back and forth to see if anyone is watching. I think there’s something vulnerable about taking a photo, it reveals to the world what you find worth taking. I guess that taking also makes it theft.

Alone in the snow, I hear my friends talking around the street corner. I lift the camera out of my pocket and roll the film into place. I crouch a little to find a frame. That’s it. The lamp and moon shining in opposite corners, opposing each other. The lamp will be in the foreground with more detail, and the moon far away. I think about how because the viewfinder in this Fujifilm QuickSnap is offset, I wont get exactly the image I’m seeing. It doesn’t matter, it’ll be unique. I click the shudder and then look at the lamp and moon one more time before running around the corner to join the party.

12/6/2022