We went through the pictures together.
"This one here," said Ginkel, "is me in Vladivostok. It was taken on the corner there."
The photograph showed Ginkel dressed just as he was in the hotel room, standing near a lamp post on a street corner. There was visible a part of a store window.
"This one is interesting," said Ginkel, warming up. "It was taken in the archipelago. You know where. I forget the name of the town. But it was in the south seas."
We both studied it for a space. It showed Ginkel standing underneath something that looked like a palm tree. But the tree was slightly out of focus. So were Ginkel's feet.
"It is interesting," said Ginkel, "But it ain't such a good picture. The lower part is kind of blurred, you notice."
We looked through the album in silence for a while. Then Ginkel suddenly remembered something.
"Oh, I almost forgot," he said. "There's one I think you'll like. It was taken in Calcutta. You know where. Here it is."
He pointed proudly toward the end of the book. We studied it through the tobacco smoke. It was a photograph of Ginkel dressed in the same clothes as before and standing under a store awning.
"There was a good light on this," said Ginkel, "and you see how plain it comes out."