Waiting for patrons to find their way behind the curtain at Hampstead Heath Fair, waiting for the laundry to dry on the clothesline, waiting for the San Francisco cable car to change direction, for the bus to Brighton to arrive and take the travellers to the seaside. In a bizarre scene at the waterfront, three peculiar figures are waiting, well wrapped, to be unwrapped. After a long winter, the blossoms of an almond tree display all their glory. Sometimes, time even seems to stand still, be it in a sculpture garden, in the studio or on a porch; Suschitzky depicts the female torso, the nude, the Thai grandmother, as contemplative still lifes dipped into mysterious light.
Waiting also means being left to one’s own devices. A little girl stands her ground amid disinterested adults, the Sardinian shepherd watches over his territory with similar resolve, and an actor concentrates on a difficult scene: “The film The Chain had a good story written by Jack Rosenthal, a good director, Jack Gold, and a good cinematographer. The story was about a series of people moving into each others’ houses, forming a chain. The leading part in the film, played by the great actor Leo McKern, had started life in a poor area of London. Now he is rich, but feels that he is near the end of his life. He leaves his splendid house to go back where he grew up. That place was shown at the beginning of the film.”