Family photograph
When dad said he wanted to go to the beach, he meant he wanted to look like a Mexican attraction at a Hawaiian lido. From one precipient angle, he looks like he's posing in a mock pageant for 'The devastating freshness of summer' look. Too much green really. He'd have had the studio film developer fooled about having used the wrong tint. Still, what a fuckin' hat !
Too much sun. Mom's eyes are squinted in a squeamish distortion of her face. She's got a flagged sort of look on her. No hats or shades. She sort of compensates for dad , who has both, and looks like parasailing is the next thing for him. She's wearing a plain blue salwaar kameez, the color of the sea, which also flanks somewhere in the background. Its all there - the camera, the color, the lights.
I'm there too, in case you've been wondering. Ballyhoo baby - the kid next door. The tub-thumping nipper who just lost his kite and wouldn't settle for a candy; round,podgy tot in tangerine shorts, tomato cheeks and fountain pony with a discernible churliness. Dad said I was a classic case. That somehow I always made my presence 'felt'. In this particular photo, I'm sitting on his head.