Colours

Autumn 20061

I was in a park around midday photographing the falling leaves. I knew that leaves are green and that they turn brown, red or yellow in autumn. But that was about all that I knew. Green, Brown, Red and Yellow, they were just words to me. Being totally colour blind, my world was in shades of grey. Instead of “colours”, I saw light, shadows and texture. In the bright afternoon light, instead of golden brown leaves, I saw light glinting off of the hidden droplets of water on the leaves, shadows on the ground that the leaves cast, the intricate texture of the veins on the surface. All these things are wonderful and beautiful but I yearn to see colours. They say, colours can induce and symbolize emotions. I had always wondered what it was like. It was beyond my comprehension and it pains me to no end. As a colour-blind photographer, I wanted other people to see the world as I saw it. Thus all of my pictures were monochromatic. That was, until I met the man in the top hat.2

A woman yelled at a man, they were standing near a fountain in the centre of the park. The woman’s hair shone under the sun, a beautiful sheen, it looked silk like. I had always admired how people’s hair shine. I observed the couple; I poised my camera and started snapping some pictures of them.3

The woman yelled at the man, she had tears in her eyes.4

The man looked at his feet with his hands in his pocket, his eyes grave but determined.5

The woman slapped the man across his face.6

The man staggered a few steps backwards.7

The woman raised her hand, tears leaked down her face.8

The woman threw the ring in the fountain.9

The man walked a way without a word.10

The woman cried and ran away.11

I approached the fountain to snap a picture of the ring in the fountain but he got to it first, the man in the top hat. His longish light (judging from its tone) hair was tied in a ponytail. He wore a dark jacket over a pinstriped shirt with a striped scarf around his neck. At first I thought he had a pair of belts, one on each side of his hip, looping from the back of his jeans to a belt hole at the front. They turned out to be suspenders that he deliberately slipped down. The suspenders were studded; I liked shiny and glinting objects. I suppose they were the “bright colours” of my colourless world. The man also wore a pair of chequered sneakers. 12

I was surprised when the man stepped into the fountain and began to wade around. He was actually searching for the ring. All the while I stood a few meters away and took some pictures of him. When the man found the ring he immediately examined it. A satisfied smile spread over his face. He was totally oblivious of me. He walked away whistling happily. It was a peculiar sight and he looked great on camera. Serendipity. That was the title I gave to one of the shots. 13

Level 8, Room 90114

It was a rather small apartment with two bedrooms, a bathroom, a kitchen and a living room. To save expenses I agreed to rent the apartment with another tenant. I had moved my things into my room earlier. I noticed that the door of the other room was a different colour from mine, whatever colour it was. I knocked the door and discovered that it was freshly painted. As I examined my paint stained knuckles, the door opened.15

“Hello I-“ I was cut mid sentence.16

“Well hello, hello! I’m Duke the Blue Fiddler.” Duke reached behind my ear and pulled out a rose. He flicked the rose between his fingers and I noticed that it was a different shade, he changed its the colour. Then Duke placed it in hand and smiled. It was him, the man in the top hat. He had changed his clothes.17

“…you! The guy who took the ring in the fountain!” I exclaimed.18

“Huh? Oh, yeah. You mean this?” He took out the ring out of his jeans’ pocket.19

“Yeah!” I was rather happy and excited.20

“Tch. You know, you could’ve said, ‘Awesome!’, or ‘That’s so cool man!’ or ‘How’d you do that?’ instead, it’s ‘Ah, fountain guy!’ That’s insulting.” 21

Duke was so animated that I was at a loss for words. He pocketed the ring again.22

“Well, whatever. Lemme’ have a tour of you room~” Duke side stepped me and headed for my room. 23

“What? Hey!” I hurried after him.24

“Ooooooh! What’s this? Are you a paparazzo? Were you stalking me?” I stood by the door as he circled the room smiling widely.25

“No, Of course not! I’m a photographer. I’ll be staying in this town for a few days.” I said indignantly. He was starting to annoy me but I was fascinated after all. 26

“Why’re all these pictures in black and white?” Duke frowned as he flipped through my album that I placed on my bed among my photography paraphernalia. I found out later that a lack of colour was a crime in Duke’s point of view. 27

“That’s just how I see the world.” Duke’s eyes almost bulged as he stared at me and contemplated my words.28

“…hmm, now that’s an idea. It’s decided. I’ll play tour guide for you. What’s your name again?”29

“…Liam.” Duke snapped his fingers and a card appeared between his thumb and forefinger. It was a deck card with LIAM printed below a joker. 30

“You are honoured to have me, the Blue Fiddler showing you around Liam my boy. I’m going out for a bit. I’ll take you out tonight.” Said Duke as head out of my room.31

“Wait! Blue Fiddler? What does that mean?” I was clueless.32

“Are you blind or something? Look, my hair’s blue and I’m a fiddler. Duke said exasperatedly as he played an invisible violin.33

“Yeah, something like that. I’m colour blind.” I said tonelessly. Duke blinked as he processed what I said.34

“Ahhh…that’s what you meant by how you see the world eh?”35

“Yeah.” I smiled.36

“Well, then. Tonight I’ll show you MY world.” With that Duke stepped out and slammed my door. It was the beginning of a particularly fascinating episode of my life. Duke, the Blue Fiddler taught me the true meaning of COLOURS.37

7:00 pm, COLOURS38

Duke was dressed in a high collared jacket over a t-shirt with BLUE printed down the front, which I later discovered that it glows in the dark. He wore a pair of half gloves, jeans, the chequered sneakers and of course his top hat. 39

“You’ll freeze.” Duke took out his striped scarf from the inside of his jacket and wrapped it around my neck.40

“Thanks.” I mumbled. I wondered what colour it actually was.41

“Oh yeah, if you’re gonna take some pictures do it right. I want to see colours in your monochrome shots. Colours ain’t just colours Liam.” I did not understood what he meant but I did not wonder for long.42

The little town was as alive in the night as it were in the day. As Duke led me down the streets, passer bys greeted Duke enthusiastically. Duke performed the ‘rose’ trick he showed me earlier to every other female that came our way. Little girls giggled, young ladies blushed and older women simply smiled. I snapped a picture of Duke kneeling on one knee as he presented a rose to a 5 - year old girl with long pigtails.43

“This is what I call PINK.” Duke said with his back to me. Pink, I thought. Warm and fuzzy, its pink.44

“That drunk guy over there is a sickly YELLOW.” Duke pointed to a shouting man who was thrown out of a nightclub. I snapped a picture of the man. Sickly yellow.45

“That’s hot RED.” Duke whistled as a tall curvy woman with middle length light hair hurried past us. Hot red. 46

I snapped pictures of Duke all night long. Duke performed countless tricks along the way. People of all ages and gender responded differently. Some shrieked and screamed (Duke took a spider out of his ear), others laugh and simply blinked. I was enthralled. Even though I could not actually see them, I knew that the bright lights and people of the town were truly colourful. At the centre of the concoction of colours was Duke. Every single shadow and ray of light looked more alive that I ever remembered. For the first time, my monochrome shots were coloured. They were coloured with expressions and stories.47

15th street, Magician’s Lair48

“Ouch!” I bumped into Duke because he suddenly stopped walking. Duke spun around on the spot and smiled at me, his eyes twinkled. I snapped his picture; he was clearly enjoying my attention. I realised that we were standing at the threshold of a shop of some sort. In bright neon lights, MAGICIAN’S LAIR glowed against the dark sky.49

“Welcome to my world!” Duke laughed, he grabbed my arm and pulled me through the double doors. Yes, he pulled me through the doors. I shut my eyes tight bracing myself for the impact with the door, but there was no door. The door was just a hologram; I stared at it in amazement.50

“Heh, gave you a shock didn’t I?” Duke smirked.51

“Yeah.” I took a picture of a man that walked in casually through the hologram door.52

It was a large restaurant with tables and chairs made from barrels and a stage. Waiters and waitresses zoomed around the place in roller skates, they were all dressed somewhat uniquely, I saw one sporting a long beard, a Harry Potter look alike, there was even one with a crow on his shoulder.53

Duke motioned me to sit at a table in the centre of the room, a few tables away from the stage. I started taking pictures of the waiters. They performed magic tricks to their customers after they served the food. It was all very fascinating to me, 54

“Liam, order anything you want. It’s on me.” Duke roused from his chair.55

“Where’re you going?” I asked.56

“Keep an eye on the stage buddy.” Duke winked and disappeared into the crowd. I looked around, everywhere people were smiling and laughing, some looked rather serious as they tried to figure out the tricks. It was a lively atmosphere. 57

“You. Where’d you get that scarf?” I started. A teenage boy was sitting opposite me.58

“Uh, a man called Duke.” I answered hesitantly.59

“He’s back?” The boy’s dark eyes shone as he smiled.60

“Back? Ah, yeah.” 61

“Where’s Duke?”62

“I don’t know. He told me to keep an eye on the stage.” 63

“Who’re you anyway?” 64

“Just an acquaintance of Duke’s.” I frowned at the boy. I was quite irritated by his rudeness. As soon as I finished my sentence, the boy turned to face the stage and stared at it with rapt attention. 65

There was an air of anticipation about him. Almost immediately, the lights went out. Candles on the barrel tables cast a warm light. Soft features of the boy were accentuated by the resulting shadows. Candlelight danced in his eyes and caressed his curly locks. He was simply exquisite. 66

8:30 pm, THE BLUE FIDDLER67

A high-pitched violin note pierced the silence and a spotlight appeared on the stage; bathing a man in a top hat with a violin. Duke’s eyes were shadowed as he had his head bowed over the violin. The tune and the candlelit atmosphere gave the whole place a magical quality. It was after all, the Magician’s Lair. From the first note of the tune, the crowd belonged to Duke. I looked at the boy; his gaze was intense than ever.68

“Perfect.” I whispered and snapped the boy’s picture. The photograph would be a favourite at my photograph exhibit in New York 3 years later. Coloured with innocence, the boy’s youth was immortalised in my monochrome shot.69

Duke’s soft and slow tune began to increase in speed and took to a more lively and happy tone. Without warning, deck cards started to fly out of the violin. They cart wheeled with their fronts facing the audience and hung in mid air. Cards of kings and queens of hearts, spades, clubs and diamonds and a joker card similar to mine started dancing. The crowd clapped with approval, Duke smiled gleefully. I took pictures almost non-stop, my pulse were racing with Duke’s violin tune.70

Duke danced with his cards, they circled him and flew everywhere on the stage as if to prove that there were no strings attached to them. The tune began to slow down and Duke stopped dancing. He put the violin under his arm and pretended to be tired. The cards continued dancing until they appeared to have realised that there was no more music. The cards circled Duke and started attacking him. Duke ran around the stage, doing back flips and splits to dodge the cards. Duke began to play the violin again. His incredibly fast tune was high pitched and shaky, the violin shrieked a few times. The crowd laughed at his antics.71

After the show I waited for Duke outside. I stood by the entrance as people filed out of the hologram door. Excited kids mimicked Duke’s violin playing and made high-pitched noises, parents laughed with bright eyes. Friends, family, lovers, everyone was smiling. They looked like they emerged from another land as they go through the hologram doors. I took some pictures of the happy crowd. That was what I call real magic.72

I spent the rest of my week following Duke around and taking pictures. The boy, Dorian took me to meet his friends who were all waiters at the Magician’s Lair. They were a cheerful lot.73

Before I left that town, Duke gave me one of his t-shirts that had BLUE printed on them. It seemed he had an abundance of them in various colour combinations. I remembered that the last thing he said to me was, “I bet you can see colours now, Liam,” as he grinned. Indeed, I could.74