The Rainbow Umbrella – Beyond the Frame 89/
Once upon a time in Paris, a stranger posed an unexpected question. Decades later, this is my response.
The Rainbow Umbrella – A Quest
A Parisian Encounter
I met a woman in Paris many years ago.
I was having lunch at Le Grand Colbert. Outside it was February, grey and raining.
The restaurant was busy, so I was not surprised when a woman sat in the unoccupied seat at my table for two.
She sat sideways on, not facing me.
Black shoes, black dress, black bobbed hair. I guessed she was in her mid-40s, but she could have been much older.
She lit a cigarette – which tells you how long ago this encounter took place.
A waiter arrived to take her order.
“Château Léoville. The ’61, not the ’63.”
She ordered with the casual confidence of somebody for whom this was not an extravagance.
She leant one elbow on the back of the chair, her cigarette aloft, as if she was holding it for an absent friend.
Without turning, but assured of my attention, she began to speak.
“You’re a photographer?”
I assumed she’d noticed my camera resting on the table.
“I am.”
She turned to face me for the first time.
“I have been searching for a metaphor.”
“Oh?” I replied. “For what?”
“For love.”
I waited.
“For joy. For hope. For friendship. For those things which appear when we expect them least but need them most.”
“I see,” I said, although, in truth, I did not.
The waiter returned and poured red wine into two glasses.
She took a sip, put her glass down, looked up and fixed me in her gaze.
“Will you help me?”
“I’m just a photographer, not a philosopher,” I stuttered.
She stubbed her cigarette into an ashtray. Looked up again.
“Of course!”
Then she stood and walked away. I watched her leave.
The waiter opened the door. She paused, looked back over her shoulder for a single beat.
The door closed behind her and she was gone.
I blinked back to earth. A daydream, surely?
I asked for “L’addition, s’il vous plaît”. When it came, the bill included the bottle of Château Léoville beside an amount that was all too real.
Nepal – some years later
Things that appear when we expect them least…
Like an umbrella on a sunny day.
At the Boudhanath Stupa in Nepal, many years before the devastating earthquake that would crack the elegant spire, a group of Buddhist monks are paying their respects to the enigmatic Buddha and his all-seeing wisdom.
There is not a cloud in the sky, but one monk holds a multi-coloured umbrella high above his head, more like an offering than as protection from the elements.
That might have been my first notable encounter with a rainbow umbrella. It’s the first one I remember photographing.
The rainbow umbrella brings an unexpected splash of colour which alters the scene and shifts my perspective.
Indonesia – a coincidence?
A different country, a different religion, another sacred site.
At the Besakih temple on the slopes of Mount Agung, a group of pilgrims have reached the summit and offer their prayers at the lotus throne.
Another rainbow umbrella is placed on the ground, facing the holy sanctuary, as if it is participating in the sacred ritual.
It’s just a few weeks since my first encounter with the rainbow umbrella in similar circumstances in Nepal. The coincidence registers.
India
Six months later, I’m walking along the ghats beside the sacred river Ganges in Varanasi. The sun is already high in the sky, sending shards of light through the haze.
The light has that level of intensity that drains all subtlety from colour. Everything is either too brightly lit or in deep shadow. I have little hope of finding gentle, nuanced scenes at this time of day.
A dot of colour in the distance catches my eye and a now-familiar rainbow-coloured circle grows larger as I walk nearer.
Sheltered from the sun, a man is reciting verses from a book. He sees me and without pausing nods an invitation for me to sit and share his shady retreat.
I quietly make photos as he continues to chant. At the conclusion of certain passages, he presses his forehead against the open pages.
Here it is again, the rainbow umbrella providing a backdrop to an act of gentle devotion. A colourful cascade of light, seemingly emanating from this devotee’s thoughtful reverie.
Thailand
The rainbow umbrella began to appear in my life with increasing regularity. Always unexpected, but never unappreciated. Like seeing an old, beloved friend in an unfamiliar location.
In the lush, green forests of northern Thailand, the rainbow umbrella came bobbing above the foliage long before the mahout and his elephant were visible.
Wherever I go…
For the past 20 years or more, the rainbow umbrella has continued to make regular appearances.
During another job in India, I see it spinning down a street towards me, apparently unaided. As it gets closer, I see four tiny legs emerge.
The second image – entirely unplanned – was licensed by a camera manufacturer for a promotional campaign. Thank you rainbow umbrella.
Occasionally tatty, sometimes misshapen, the rainbow umbrella provides protection from flooded streets to remote Himalayan trails. Mothers and daughters, carpenters and tailors, street vendors and railway workers… the rainbow umbrella has got them all covered, more or less.
Serendipity
You might wonder if the rainbow umbrella appearances are merely coincidence. That’s not unreasonable.
But I’m not so sure.
Walking from my home in Bangkok to a local supermarket, I take a short cut through an abandoned plot where off-duty street vendors leave their carts. There’s never anybody there, no homes, no offices.
After a rain shower, I discover a rainbow umbrella. It looks brand new. It’s sitting beside a puddle in the middle of the lot, as if posing, waiting for its portrait to be made.
I look around. I’m the only person here. How did it get there? Nobody knows. Does it have a message? It’s not saying.
I make the photo and carry on, leaving it where it lies. When I return, it has gone. Without the photo, I might doubt it was ever really there.
A quest fulfilled?
A metaphor, she said.
For those things which appear when we expect them least but need them most.
The rainbow umbrella is, perhaps, the closest I’ve come.
Pour elle.
“There are only two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as though everything is a miracle.”
– Albert Einstein
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☆ Read – The Reckless Women Who Changed Journalism
To mark International Women’s Day on 6 March, this article in The Atlantic introduces books which describe how women reporters, often denied the same access to stories as men, turned the limitations they faced to their advantage.
Indeed, their exclusion from the male press establishment allowed them to produce fresh perspectives and more personal approaches to journalism.
◉ Negotiate – pricing tools for photographers
Negotiating fees for professional work or image licensing can be a delicate business.
Clients want to hire you or licence one of your images. They have a budget. You have an expectation of what would be a reasonable fee. Often neither wants to reveal the full range of what they’re willing to pay/accept. We end up dancing around and guessing. It’s not ideal.
Here are two tools that can cut through the cat and mouse games.
BidWix
Built by my friend Stéphane, creator of the excellent MyNoise project, BidWix uses a clever geometric average to suggest a fee that fits neatly into both a client’s budget and a provider’s acceptable fee range.
BidWix is free to use and offers a quick, neat, no-nonsense way for both parties to negotiate a fee that works for both sides.
You can read more about how and why BidWix was built on Stéphane’s blog.
Beyond the Frame Image Calculator
I’ve used my own method of calculating image licence fees for many years. It’s a straightforward calculation based on the intended usage, licence period, and territories covered.
For example, when a client asked to use one of my images to promote a new TV show, the licence fee was based upon the following:
Period = One Year
Print Usage = Posters + Press advertising
Digital Usage = Social Media + Internet advertising
Territory = Europe + North America + Australasia
Each usage and territory has a corresponding fee multiplier. I set a base fee and add multiples based on the specific usage.
That sounds more complicated than it actually is.
I’ve used a simple spreadsheet in the past but now I’ve built an online Beyond the Frame Image Licensing Calculator.
The calculator is free to use. Simply set your base rate, click the relevant licence duration and usages, and the suggested licence fee will be calculated automatically.
I also use the Getty Images Rights Managed price calculator to double-check that my fees are within industry standards.
The Association of Photographers has an excellent guide to image licensing, including an important reminder that there’s never any need for photographers to give away their copyright!
If you’re negotiating fees or licensing images, these two tools can remove uncertainty and eliminate the sometimes uncomfortable negotiation process.
✤ Create
A series of creative prompts, inspired by Brian Eno’s Oblique Strategies, and designed with photographers in mind.
Read more about the concept and learn how to use my Oblique Strategies for Photographers.
And finally…
Whether or not it’s a winning metaphor for the sometimes unpredictable but always welcome arrival of love, joy, hope and friendship, I hope the rainbow umbrella brings a little sunshine into your life this week.
Until next time, go well.
◼︎ Directory: Archive of Beyond the Frame newsletters.
◼︎ Resources: Recommended books, films, gear, media etc.
May you continue to see umbrellas wherever you go. Rainbow, of course
Lovely and colorful read. I’ve certainly seen plenty of rainbow umbrellas. I actually have a friend with one. Sadly, I don’t think I have any images of them.