- July 30, 2007
- Posted by Marc
Every Image Has A Story - “The Girl In The Tunnel”
“Suzanne Brenchley was on Punt Road when she saw her past flash by.
One ordinary day, I saw my ghost in a dark tunnel. It was an autumn afternoon, three years ago. I was a passenger in my sister’s car travelling down Punt Road. As we entered the Richmond tunnel the traffic lights changed, we stopped and waited, and then my sister exclaimed, “Look! That’s you, Suzanne!”
I turned towards the tunnel wall and saw an image of a young girl’s face printed on an enormous poster. At first glance it meant nothing but the second time I saw myself when I was a twenty-something. The traffic lights changed and we were on our way. I looked back, I looked at my sister, and then I squealed with disbelief. We laughed all the way home. The hilarity continued as I sifted through a box of old modelling photos, taken in the early ‘70s, until I found the right one. I was indeed the young girl on the poster under the Richmond Bridge.
The next day I stood under the bridge and studied the three-metre poster. It was the work of a graffiti artist who had enhanced the original photo by white-washing the face, accentuating the dark eyes and hair. There was another additional touch that gave the impression that the girl was sad; black tears streamed down the colourless face. The vision reflected another time in my life and yet it also illustrated what I was feeling at that moment. And I wondered, was it possible that this artist knew that lately I had been crying a lot? My 30-year marriage was beginning to fall apart….”
You can read the rest of the story by clicking here.
(Thanks, Cristrain)