photoshop

Not all pictures are photography.

I like the un-Photoshopped pictures. The yellow is off and my hair is too red. There are cigarette butts on the ground. Behind him, a plastic bags says "Thank You. Thank You. Thank You." as it blows in the wind and I find myself hoping that it does not stick to a windshield because that crash would require photographs.

I have a small belly and a freckle by my elbow and scars by my lip and hair that doesn't all tuck behind my ear on one side. She has glasses and braces. Our teeth are not white, and the shadow on my cheek is too symmetrical but sometimes these shadows are a comfort. It's nice to know that Someone else is hiding something. That what's left looks ok through a lens not attached to a camera.

He doesn't take pictures and can't make me more perfect on his computer. We sit on the floor, carpet imprints forming negatives of the moment we don't capture digitally and store on a Web site.

I often look around, moving my coffee cup into the edge of a lamp's ring of light and shadow, dripping a sip down the edge and thinking "Yes, with too much exposure, this could look just right." My eyes are not good enough. Colors are more Real and Vivid on computers.