hexapetala
evening constitutional
Symbiosis. The term is from the Greek (everything is from the Greek, it seems, or the Latin; those guys covered a lot of linguistic ground). In this case it’s sym, meaning ‘with’ or ‘together’ and bios, meaning ‘life.’ Symbiosis. Alive together. It describes a close association between two organisms of different species, usually to the benefit of both, and sometimes essential for mutual survival.
Man and dog, photographer and subject. On the surface these are both symbiotic relationships. But when is anything ever what it appears to be on the surface? In truth, one of these relationships is parasitic. Again from the Greek. Para, meaning ‘beside’ and sitos, meaning ‘food.’ The parasite gets close beside the host and feeds off it.
You can’t blame the parasite anymore than you can blame the symbiots. They are what they are. The symbiots need each other. They go for a walk. The parasite gets close and feeds off them. Not a lot. Just a taste. They’ll never miss it. Just a little f/2.5 taste for 1/30th of a second. Doesn’t hurt the man, doesn’t hurt the dog. A thirtieth of a second and everybody goes home happy.
And then there’s us. Guess which Greek term applies to us. That’s right, that’s right. Not so quick to judge the parasite now, are we. It’s just a taste, after all, just a wee taste of those two being alive together. A thirtieth of a second and we can all feed on it for weeks.
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