Dear deer...

Do you love deer? If you do, the Japanese city of Nara is THE place to be. It is so full of sweet deer, happy children and smiling visitors! A photographer can easily get lost with all that beauty, and indeed I really didn’t know what kind of picture I wanted to take. And then I saw this man…

My husband and I were in Nara at the end of October 2017. We were walking around the park and we were amazed by the huge herd of deer calmly hanging around, getting close to visitors. Sika deer from this area were considered sacred in the past. Today they are considered and protected as national treasure. They are always surrounded by lots of children and visitors buying special crackers to feed them.

As usual in these cases, I was standing with my fingers on my camera, waiting for the good moment to have my perfect shot. I was particularly interested in a group of children playing with deer nor far from me. I was staring at them, advancing slowly without paying any attention to the floor. This was not that smart. And indeed, I almost fell from a stair I had not noticed.

As soon as I regained balance, I looked at the stair and saw this man in his seventies, I guess. From the way he approached deer, I had the impression that he was used to spend his time there. It was beautiful to see such sincere love and respect between the two. I silently took several pictures of them. Once I was satisfied, I smiled at the man. And then, I noticed his sad eyes. Suddenly, I felt that maybe he was in need of good friends, maybe he needed to escape loneliness. That kiss seemed then even more precious to me.