Adviser: Isak Berbic
I always love taking pictures with flowers and nature, I think it is the most beautiful scenery I can get compared to anything else. I am glad that I live in a colorful and fragrant world. My mum has the same thought as me. Properly she is the one who influenced me to have this thought. Whenever she sees blossoms, flowers, or an attractive natural view, she asks me to take a picture of her and the view. In this meaningful honor project, l wants to capture my mother’s 50th, a milestone of her life. Since we are all going through a tough time, staying at home limits the places that we can go for photo shooting. My plan was to bring my mum to those famous tourist spots in New York since she didn’t even officially visit New York as a tourist. We moved to New York 4 years ago, and she just threw herself into work right after we arrived in the states. Unfortunately, it is too dangerous to go around right now, so I decided to make her a fresh, sweet photo album. We attempted several times, going to different places, using different concepts. Eventually, the simplest is the best. This series was taken in Bayside Park, which is very close to our house. We walked around and had fun on that sunny day. It was enjoyable, especially in this quarantine period, a fresh air day is precise and delighted. I named the series as “In a dream”. During the shooting time, I asked my mum to recall the happiest moment in her life and her young adult time. She said everything is like a dream, including life, she couldn’t believe she is already in her 50th and I am turning 24. Everything happens so fast like a blink. Thus, I named the series based on her thoughts.
In this series, I tried to create a dreamy atmosphere and make her look like a magazine model, telling her what to do, and showing her best angle. I think the concept has to be shown in the picture. Just like when a singer releases an album, they have a complete concept and shoot the wallpaper based on the concept, so that the audience can understand it better. I want to show that although my mother is not a young teenager anymore, she has a young beautiful soul inside. She is always the one I beloved and respect the most.
Dreaming of…
I considered this one as the cover picture. I took this picture from a high angle and put some flowers next to my mum’s hair to embellish the picture. I told her to enjoy the fresh air and to chill, that’s why you can see her facial expressions really show the joyfulness. Her hair color and lip color make a strong contrast with meadow; red and green.
Flower Shower
This is a close up of my mum’s joyful face. She is enjoying a sunlight shower. The strong sunlight made her unable to open her eyes and used her hand to block it. It created an interesting shadow on her face. In this close up picture, you can see more details.
Touch
This is the warmest hand in my life. With the sunlight, it looks soft and tough at the same time. Her skin is softly touching the meadow whereas her hand is full of wrinkles and lines. Before we came to the states, my mum loved doing her nails. However, she never has spare time to do her nails. I love the way she is anyway.
Teenage Dream
With the white sneakers and long skirt, my mum looks like a 20-year-old. Imagine, she would never wear a pair of sneakers in Hong Kong since she loves high heels. She changed a lot because of me and my sister, including making the decision of moving to the states. I know she sacrificed a lot for this family and I want to give her the best in the future.
Miss Sunshine
In this picture, I kneeled down to stay on the same level with her, so that she looks straight to the camera. She is always a Miss Sunshine in the other’s eyes. She has been telling me always to stay positive since I was little. In order to capture her natural smile, I took this picture in a second when I called her, “mama”. She always answers me back in this most beautiful smile.
This is not only a project to me. It is more like a gift for my mother. I know she actually loves going around and taking pretty pictures, but as she can’t really speak English, she doesn’t usually go out without me. Doing this project gave us a chance to be together creating great memories. I realized that we always should spend more time with family since they are your strongest backup and tightest relationship in the world.