As a third grader, I used to think how all the adults had everything figured out. Now I realize they just hide their panic really well. Teenage-the prequel to adulting. We are constantly told that we are the future, and frankly, we're not sure how we feel about that responsibility. Navigating through life as a teenager is definitely hard, especially in a world like ours. Most of us drown ourselves in the endless loop of scrolling through any social media, also known as doom scrolling, or have a unique passion we become obsessed with.
Photography is like that for me. Although I love to capture the pretty skies every now and then, it's a lot more than being 'pretty'. It's the feelings, the story behind everything that I like to capture. For me, everything has a background and a certain uniqueness behind it. Be it raindrops falling on leaves, a crow sitting on a tree, an old couple sitting on Marine Drive, or a toddler’s joy after receiving a mango bite. Photography is seeing beyond the surface, seeing into the souls of the things or people I'm capturing. Immortalizing the people I love because I'm too scared to let them go, so I'll freeze the moment. It's about wishing that the camera can capture the beauty that my eyes see. Looking into the little things in life that are often overlooked. It's about slowing down for a minute, to appreciate things around us. It’s about capturing raw, unfiltered images filled with imperfections and scars because that is how life is.
In the end, it's not about images. Life is not always pretty skies, sunshine and sparkle, it's also the dark skies, broken mirrors and wilted flowers, all in their messy and beautiful glory. Perhaps in this pursuit of capturing the essence of existence through the lens, I've found a small piece of myself. A piece in which I thrive to my fullest potential, in which I find solace and purpose.
