Rubbing Palms

In a small domestic kitchen, a pair of hands rub palm-against-palm twice, briskly, drying and warming them — and the eyes flick to the specific thing about to be lifted: the scorched loop handle of a heavy enamelled cast-iron pot on the far burner. The look lands there first; the hands move second. Shot in Hirokazu Kore-eda's patient household register from Still Walking, camera at seated height, waiting. DIRTY FOREGROUND: steam rising from an open saucepan drifts through the left of frame, lit from the window behind it. Handheld 35mm on vintage glass at f/2.8, gentle halation on the wet steel sink behind; the operator holds low and adjusts once when the body leans. Lit only by an overcast window and one under-cabinet strip. Chipped blue enamel, an old burn scar on the inside of the wrist, flour dust in the palm creases.