In the work shown, I have presented some collections of the film portraits I have taken of people that I care about in my life. I decided to choose the film pictures I took because the limited amount of shots I could take per roll meant that I had to be much more thoughtful with my composition, and people almost always feel more natural around my film camera compared to my digital. Not only this, but I chose black and white because I wanted the people to be the sole focus.
I find that when I do portraits, I tend to use friends and family as subjects because I am familiar with them and can interact with them more naturally than if I were to ask a stranger. Due to this, the photos I take of loved ones feels more meaningful too. Most of these were candids as I decided to bring along my camera when meeting up with people and carefully watched how they were moving and deciding on whether or not their surroundings distracts or compliments. I want to represent the subjects as best I can because I appreciate these people and want them to be seen by viewers as I see them.
"Risa", 2017
B&W Medium Format Photograph
"Gianni", 2017
B&W Medium Format Photograph
"Chris", 2017
B&W Medium Format Photograph
"Tarik", 2017
B&W Medium Format Photograph
"Set in Stone Self Portrait", 2018
B&W Medium Format Photograph
"My Nanang Gloria", 2017
B&W Medium Format Photograph
"Troy & Madyn", 2019
B&W Medium Format Photograph
"Hector", 2017
B&W Medium Format Photograph
"Danny", 2017
B&W Medium Format Photograph
"Lulani", 2017
B&W Medium Format Photograph
Artist Statement
In my art, my largest goal is to evoke strong emotional reactions from people because I myself tend to struggle with this. I believe in the power of releasing one’s emotions and not letting it bottle up. With an emotional reaction, I also hope that viewers of my art learn something about themselves from the experience as being vulnerable can be difficult.
In my photography, I am interested in how time can be represented through photos involving very long projects. I also take it as a chance to find new angles of perception besides the one with our own eyes. My loved ones are important subjects to me too because I want to show the greatness that I see in them expressed in the photos I take of them. I want them and other viewers to hopefully see what I see.
