No, this photo isn’t an attempt to mimic a Cocteau Twins album cover, but a nagging reminder that I missed The Shot.
We went to see Marina Hyde talk about her new book last night. She is “the most lethal, vital, screamingly funny truth-teller of our time” according to Phoebe Waller-Bridge (and I am inclined to agree).
As she walked out, I readied my camera phone to take a photo as she passed.
She saw me and waved.
I tried to click but nothing happened. Too late… I missed what could have been a memorable photo.
It reminded me of other photos I’ve frustratingly missed because I wasn’t ready, or alert, or in the right place at the right time.
One particularly sticks in my mind. I was walking past the police station in Manvers Street in Bath. Ahead, were two policemen walking with their arms around each other.
An unfamiliar scene which made me smile. They were too far ahead for me to photograph it but the image has stayed with me.
And maybe that’s the lesson for today. So what if I miss The Photo. It’s the memory that counts.