stolen title

'life began in the rain' is the title of a photograph i saw in an exhibition in regent campus foyer. perhaps a million years ago. well, not that long surely, but feels like it is. it was a black and white. a pic of oxford street under the rain. taken from a double decker. by a japanese student who was taking EFL course and a photography class. and i think it was one of the most beautiful things i had ever seen in life.

the student put a poem next to her pic. she said when she took the photo, she hated london because she just arrived and it was always raining there. but then, having seen the pic she took, she began to love the rain. she wrote: the rain is beautiful/it's like the music of mozart/ it always rains in london/ here i began my new life.

i was on my way to class then but i just had to stop in the foyer. stop dead and breathless. her photo had captured the very essence that i had been trying to convey in my writings for my whole life (again - hyperbolic but i feel like it really is!!!). the liquid essence that was still shaping itself and went unrecognizable. but suddenly, here it was, materializing right in front of my eyes like a miracle.

later her teacher, margot, who became one of my good friends, told me that she was indeed a very difficult student. well, arent all artists?