The Unexpected Review

After months of preparation, Leila opened her first photography exhibition. Most visitors praised the large photographs of empty streets at dawn. One online reviewer, however, called the images beautiful but distant. "Where are the people who make this neighbourhood a place to live?" the review asked.

Leila was furious. The empty streets were the point. She had deliberately avoided crowds to show details that usually went unnoticed. She drafted a reply explaining this, then asked a friend to read it before posting.

Her friend suggested waiting a day. The following morning, Leila returned to one of the streets with her camera. A cleaner was unlocking a public toilet, and a baker was unloading trays. They had been there during her earlier visits too. She had simply waited for them to move.

She still disagreed that her photographs had no value. Yet she could no longer pretend that an empty street was a view without a choice behind it.

Leila did not remove the original pictures. Instead, she began a second series, asking the morning workers whether they wanted to be photographed. Some agreed; others preferred not to appear.

When a newspaper asked if the new series was an apology, she said no. It was a reply, but one she wanted to make with pictures rather than an angry paragraph.