A Smile and A Wave

There was always something about Venus, a certain Billie Holliday

essence to her that always struck me. She is oddly childlike--despite

her being twice her opponent's age--both in her voice and demeanor, her

very small way of saying "I'm sooorry", when she tosses the ball in the

air on her serve, but lets it plop back to the earth without uncoiling her

supple frame to bring the wrath of the racket down on the fuzzy yellow

pinata and send it screaming across the blue asphalt ocean streaked in

white. She had this somewhat disconcerting habit of staring straight into

my camera mid-serve before she brings her racket down on the

descending ball. At first, I thought this was an accident, but after a few

times of this, I began to see it as a slight rebuke, and adjusted the

timing of my shooting. Her first quarterfinal set against Cece Bellis, the

upstart American high schooler, was close, but then from the 10th game

of the fists set, Venus slowly tightened the grip on her racket and her

concentration, and asserted her superiority. It was a spectacle to behold,

for you could at once see the prodigious talent, still buried in her

impressive frame, but there was also a tinge of sadness in watching her

in this, the twilight of her career, and seeing the unrequited potential, the

holes in her game which she never fixed, the lapses in concentration

which bedeviled her mid-career, and the odd sentimentality, which was

both her enduring grace, yet most confounding weakness. There were

times you felt her discomfort to be the center of so much attention, and

the crowd sensed her vulnerability, and treated her with a certain

politeness that her more illustrious sister never gets to enjoy. But, unlike

her sister, who mows opponents down with the severity of a John Deere,

there is something sweet and gentle about Venus, a certain elegance

and profound softness, like the chords of a sweet guitar, the gentle sway

of leaves in an empty field on a summer day, the soft notes of Fur Elise

that makes you want to never leave, and when you do, long to return.

Your photo capture is very well done, your soliloquy, sublime... Mike

exquisite writing senhor Enyinwa (a lyrical word play that connected me to your flowers shots)… And the picture essay on Venus ain't half bad either ;-)…!

Well, thanks, Carlos. Much appreciated.

Excellent picture with your trademark deep color and your eloquent accompanying essay completes the victory. Game, set, match.

Emmanuel,

  Beautiful image with wonderful colors & priceless smile.  This is really a great series.  Take care, Patsy