Inside Airports

I spend a lot of time in airports. Naturally with COVID, there has been a steep decline in the number of times I took flight in the last three years. Recently on a trip back from Toronto, I captured this still life image of this gentleman, completely engrossed in the entertainments of his screen in front of him. There was something foreign, almost outer worldly about his look. Yet, I found myself drawn to the beauty of his shape, the composition of the space – all at the same time, he lured me in. I had to make a couple of clever moves with my camera in order for him not to look up (and ruin the silhouette). So, at first, I walked up to the window to “desensitize” everyone to the sound of my shutter clicking. Pretending to take photos of the aircraft. Then, casually I moved to a back seat and boom! clicked this one.  It’s really not that I wanted to be sneaky – it’s just that alerting him to the capture would have immediately ruined the moment and feel of the image.

Airports to me are such contrasting places. I always feel a mix of joy and sadness when I travel through them. On the one hand you have the exhilaration of a new adventure, on the other perhaps, a sad goodbye to a loved one. Separation.

Yet, to most people they are like a magnet. Very few people I know of do not get excited about the prospect of exploring distant shores. Very few people would not grab the opportunity to temporarily exchange their current illusion for the next illusionary world. Albeit temporarily.

What is an airport to you? A happy or sad place? A place of freedom or constraint? 

Yours in capturing YOU, Leonie J.