An unexpected gesture grows out of an hour of careful preparation.
01Read the Arabic story
الصُّورَةُ الْعَفْوِيَّةُ الَّتِي اسْتَغْرَقَ إِعْدَادُهَا سَاعَةً
قَضَيْتُ سَاعَةً أُعِدُّ صُورَةً عَفْوِيَّةً لِوَرْشَةِ إِصْلَاحِ الْمَذَايِيعِ. كُنْتُ مُصَوِّرَةً أَعْرِفُ أَنَّ هَذِهِ الْعِبَارَةَ سَتُضْحِكُ سَمِيرًا، صَاحِبَ الْوَرْشَةِ. أَرَادَ صُورَةً لِصَفْحَتِهِ تُظْهِرُ عَمَلَهُ، لَا وُقُوفَهُ أَمَامَ الْعَدَسَةِ. فَنَقَلْتُ الْمِصْبَاحَ، وَرَتَّبْتُ الْأَدَوَاتَ، وَأَبْعَدْتُ عُلْبَةَ الْمَسَامِيرِ الصَّغِيرَةَ عَنِ الْإِطَارِ. لَمْ أَجْلِبْ شَيْئًا مِنْ خَارِجِ الْوَرْشَةِ؛ كُلُّ شَيْءٍ كَانَ مُسْتَعْمَلًا فِي الْإِصْلَاحِ.
طَلَبْتُ مِنْهُ أَنْ يُوَاصِلَ إِصْلَاحَ مِذْيَاعٍ مَفْتُوحٍ. قَالَ: «أَحْتَاجُ إِلَى الْعُلْبَةِ الَّتِي أَبْعَدْتِهَا». مَدَّ يَدَهُ نَحْوَهَا، فَسَقَطَ مِسْمَارٌ وَتَدَحْرَجَ تَحْتَ الْخِزَانَةِ. اِنْحَنَى يَبْحَثُ عَنْهُ، وَأَدَارَ الْمِصْبَاحَ بِالْيَدِ الْأُخْرَى. اِلْتَقَطْتُ الصُّورَةَ فِي تِلْكَ اللَّحْظَةِ، قَبْلَ أَنْ يَرْفَعَ رَأْسَهُ وَيَقُولَ إِنَّ الْمِسْمَارَ وَجَدَ طَرِيقًا أَفْضَلَ لِلْهَرَبِ مِنْ عَيْنِي.
أَعْجَبَتْنِي الصُّورَةُ أَكْثَرَ مِنْ لَقَطَاتِهِ وَهُوَ يَنْظُرُ إِلَى الْمِذْيَاعِ. لَمْ أَطْلُبْ مِنْهُ الِانْحِنَاءَ، وَلَمْ يُعِدْهُ لِأَجْلِي. لَكِنَّ الْعُلْبَةَ الْبَعِيدَةَ كَانَتْ جُزْءًا مِنْ تَرْتِيبِي، وَكَانَتِ الْيَدُ الْمَمْدُودَةُ نَتِيجَةً لَهُ. كَانَ الْإِطَارُ ضَيِّقًا؛ يَحْفَظُ الْحَرَكَةَ وَيَتْرُكُ سَبَبَهَا خَارِجَهُ. لَوْ رَآهَا مُشَاهِدٌ وَحْدَهَا، لَرُبَّمَا ظَنَّ أَنَّ سَمِيرًا يَفْحَصُ شَيْئًا يَصْعُبُ عَلَيَّ رُؤْيَتُهُ.
عَرَضْتُ عَلَيْهِ الصُّورَةَ، فَضَحِكَ، ثُمَّ سَأَلَ هَلْ سَيَبْدُو كَأَنَّهُ يَنْحَنِي هَكَذَا فِي كُلِّ إِصْلَاحٍ. شَرَحْتُ لَهُ أَنَّ الْحَرَكَةَ حَقِيقِيَّةٌ، وَلَكِنَّنِي سَاهَمْتُ فِي صُنْعِ سَبَبِهَا. قَالَ إِنَّهُ يُحِبُّهَا لِأَنَّهَا تُذَكِّرُهُ بِنُكْتَتِهِ، أَمَّا لِصَفْحَتِهِ فَيُفَضِّلُ صُورَةَ يَدَيْهِ وَهُمَا تَصِلَانِ سِلْكًا. لَمْ أَسْأَلْهُ أَنْ يُكَرِّرَ الْحَرَكَةَ؛ اِنْتَظَرْتُ حَتَّى احْتَاجَ إِلَى السِّلْكِ فِعْلًا.
بَعْدَ اللَّقْطَةِ الثَّانِيَةِ أَعَدْتُ الْعُلْبَةَ إِلَى مَوْضِعِهَا الْقَرِيبِ مِنْهُ. لَمْ يَصِرِ الْمَكَانُ مُرَتَّبًا كَمَا أَرَدْتُ، وَلَكِنَّهُ اسْتَطَاعَ أَنْ يَأْخُذَ مِسْمَارًا دُونَ أَنْ يَتْرُكَ الْمِذْيَاعَ. قَبْلَ أَنْ أُغْلِقَ حَقِيبَتِي، وَضَعَ الْمِسْمَارَ الْهَارِبَ عَلَى غِطَاءِ الْعُلْبَةِ. تَرَكْتُهُ هُنَاكَ. أَمَّا الصُّورَةُ الْأُولَى فَاحْتَفَظْتُ بِهَا لِنَفْسِي، وَأَبْعَدْتُ حَقِيبَتِي عَنِ الطَّاوِلَةِ قَبْلَ أَنْ يَطْلُبَ مِنِّي ذَلِكَ.
Show English translationHide English translation
I spent an hour preparing a candid photograph of a radio repair workshop. I was a photographer who knew that phrase would make Samir, the workshop owner, laugh. He wanted a photograph for his page that showed his work, rather than him standing before the lens. So I moved the lamp, arranged the tools and moved the little screw box out of the frame. I had brought nothing from outside the workshop: everything was used in repair work.
I asked him to continue repairing an open radio. He said, "I need the box you moved away." He reached toward it, and a screw fell and rolled under the cabinet. He bent down to look for it, turning the lamp with his other hand. I took the photograph at that moment, before he raised his head and said the screw had found a better way of escaping my eye.
I liked the photograph more than the shots of him looking at the radio. I had not asked him to bend down, and he did not repeat it for me. But the distant box was part of my arrangement, and the outstretched hand was a result of it. The frame was narrow: it preserved the movement and left its cause outside. If a viewer saw it on its own, they might think Samir was examining something difficult for me to see.
I showed him the photograph. He laughed, then asked whether it would look as though he bent down like that in every repair. I explained that the movement was real, but I had contributed to creating its cause. He said he liked it because it reminded him of his joke; for his page, however, he preferred a photograph of his hands connecting a wire. I did not ask him to repeat the movement: I waited until he actually needed the wire.
After the second shot, I returned the box to its place near him. The place did not end up as tidy as I had wanted, but he could take a screw without leaving the radio. Before I closed my bag, he placed the runaway screw on the box lid. I left it there. I kept the first photograph for myself, and moved my bag away from the table before he asked me to.
02Useful words from the story
| Arabic in the story | Meaning here |
|---|---|
| أُعِدُّ | I prepare |
| عَفْوِيَّةً | candid; spontaneous |
| الْعَدَسَةِ | the lens |
| الْمَسَامِيرِ | the screws |
| وَتَدَحْرَجَ | and it rolled |
| الْخِزَانَةِ | the cabinet |
| تَرْتِيبِي | my arrangement |
| مُشَاهِدٌ | a viewer |
| يَدَيْهِ | his two hands |
| وَأَبْعَدْتُ | and I moved away |
03Check your understanding
Choose one answer per question. Track voices, omissions and competing accounts. Choose the reading best supported by the Arabic text.
What to remember
- An unrequested movement can be real while its cause depends on a prepared scene.
- The narrator imagines a possible viewer's interpretation rather than reporting an actual audience response.
Explore the Arabic in this story
Related grammar and vocabularyOpen Araqick guides connected to this story.
Arabic Relative Pronouns: Joining Ideas with Alladhi and Allati
الْعُلْبَةِ الَّتِي أَبْعَدْتِهَا
Allati links the definite feminine singular box to its description. The attached ha in abadtiha refers back to that box.
Arabic Past-Tense Endings: I Wrote, You Wrote and We Wrote
وَرَتَّبْتُ الْأَدَوَاتَ
The regular past ending tu identifies the speaker in rattabtu. It works for this female narrator as well as a male speaker.
