exploring a new realm

I have been always afraid of photography. One reason is that the technical stuffs about the camera that I dont know and i am so slow to master it (even not interested). the other thing is the photoshop- I dont know and whenever I tried it, I created a mess that I gave up. Sometimes, witnessing my dear friend doctored his photo in very detail and to my eye, they were almost the same, I kept questioned whether I lack an eye for it or I dont have a high demanding taste for a photo.

So it took a while for me to decide to take this course- high risk that I lost money that is enough for me to live more than a month . This course- according to the instructor, screening the application and photo people submitted to him was the most tiring part, I passed.

First, looked at my album to see whether I could choose any photo for this task; taking one self portrait photo and I submitted this one:

I took it in June, 2018 when I visited a museum in Singapore. The NTU museum, I think and this nude photo was what I found the most interesting. SO i took myself with this photo and I quite liked how my photo and this photo overplayed.

However, he suggested me to take another photo, something more original as he was interested in me making something for this class and it was a way to help him to understanding about my thought process. so I was in the Instabul airport and started thinking about what I wanted to show about me. Clearly when you have to do it yourself a self-portrait photo, taking my face is not easy and of course it is not what I intend to do. I took some nude and semi-nude photo but I did not want to send him. I was afraid of it whether too much or too exposed if he showed my homework in the class.

so I took the first photo in this airport.

i liked the texture of my hand, the ink on it, and the pressure on the cracked surface, but somehow i felt it was not enough for the class. I did not know how it was enough but i just wanted to explore more, so I took another one with little arrangement

does it matter if you dont understand the text? what does photo mean to someone who could not read Vietnamese and Swedish. Maybe it is not important, so what does the text function and the drawing function in making the meaning of this photo? I even dont understand the meaning i want to create here for myself. I love the contrast and the little details here and there have certain meaning to me. they are all about me; my book, my notebook, my drawing and my feeling. I was sad. but i was not sure how it was read.

I was pretty frustrated. I did not have any clear idea about doing this task until i went to the hotel and took a shower.

when I saw water evaporated and covered on the glass, I took this one:

i almost submitted this one. I love the meanings I created, pretty obvious but at the same time, I dont have to claim them out loud and i loved it gave audience choices to create meaning they wanted. I took when I pressed my hand on one side of the glass and i moved to the other side and took it with my iphone.

same day, I took few photos of myself in the mirror and it took my a day to decide which one of these to submit.

i was allowed to submit one photo. which one do you think was the best for the assignment?

I had a hard time to choose one and i asked this question to many friends before i made decision.

i am accepted. the instructor asked about my thought process and at the end of the email, he said "it's really good btw"

it would be better if he wrote the full sentence. I dont like the "btw" as the compliment was added in a convenient way, as an additional stuff. Then I thought about it and I thought it seemed like it was hard for him to give compliment, so i took it as a compliment ha ha

my new journey will be started from tonight. it is raining now. Turning to the autumn in Hanoi.

btw, my friend thought it would be better this way, she layered a snow effect on it. which one do you like more?