Taking flight. Counting down the days left until you leave
And this is my answer.
This life, one that I make for myself- I live for happiness.
You see the world around you, take it in as it spins. You are surrounded by your loved ones.
You are present in this moment, peering over the edge of the horizon that holds your uncertain future.
You have never been so optimistic, so aware of your orientation at this moment- having braved painful hurdles. It has been a long road, long journey. It is as if you can already taste what is to come, like a pot ready to bubble over but not quite there yet. It’s just on the tip of your tongue. nearly reachable.
Just stretch towards it a little more-
and come back to the present.
Effervescent bursts of laughter, bubbling up from cherry lips and stomachs that hurt from uncontrollable happiness. Smiles that reach up to your eyes, so that I see your eye creases, so that your eyes disappear into thin lines. The sounds of feet pitter-pattering around beaches, on hardwood floors, concrete streets.
“Assume for a moment that you are going to be leaving earth on a spaceship, never to return. There will not be any form of entertainment or decoration on the ship. You will not have any mirrors, films, works of art, etc. You will be eating processed food and drinking filtered urine. You may, however, bring ten photographs with you. Choose ten that will sustain you on your voyage- it doesn’t need to be great art; just make it personally meaningful.”
This is just a simple thought project involving self reflection: what do you hold true to yourself? What do you love? What are you passionate about? Who are you?
These pictures are dear to me in many different ways; some are pictures of loved ones, and some of these are representative of the moments I spent with people, and my hometown. My lovely hometown – Hong Kong.
FamilyMy brotherMumThis just reminds me of home somehow. Walking to your loved one. your home.experimenting with long exposuresHong Kong’s buildingsClassic Hong Kong streetRock climbing on Po Toi IslandMovement of water frozen in this moment.
What then, are you going to bring?
***
(idea derived from here which is a mit open course on photography – Documentary Photography and Photojournalism: Still Images Of A World In Motion; I do not own this idea but the pictures are mine.)
(Please do feel free to give criticism. I’m new to putting together portfolios/projects with different shots centering on different themes.)
(This is more of a ramble of sorts that doesn’t really focus on anything it’s just scattered all over the place)
***
I write this as I sit on the beach, alone, looking after my friends’ belongings.
It is a sunny day; we were scared that the rain would pour and our plans would’ve been spoiled. But we are lucky.
1 – We are three friends, joined together by school; and a month later we shall be separated by geographical distance as we move on to the next stage of life: university.
One in the States, one in Britain and the last one still in Hong Kong. Miles apart. But I know we will stay friends. We’ve gone through so much in these few years.
I know we won’t be able to go on adventures like we used to, but at least we can update each other on life. Catch up via the convenience of digital networking, with video chats and messaging. Chat about the good old days.
Friendship is about learning to listen to your friend, to be happy for them when credit is given, to enjoy the moments between you two… to have fun. And there’s so much more.
But if I had to distill it into one sentence – id say that it is the little moments of joy, of laughter of love between.
the small things.
It’s always the little details that builds a person. Like how one person has to have a can of coke every morning they walk into the office. The way another person coughs when they’re lying. The way the smile lines form around the eyes when they’re truly happy.
Yeah, those.
Always the small things.
2 – University? It’s just like the Next Big Thing that we all look forward to.
This Next Big Thing shall be challenging in ways I’ve never encountered… ill have to resocialize, push myself out of my comfort zone, try new things… I can’t even start to imagine myself doing that.
I know that I’m the type of person who needs a lot of stability and safety to truly be myself. And that’s why I’m so worried about going to university in September: I am completely out of my element, thrust into a new foreign environment without parental support nor any old friends. Nothing to hold onto. You start from ground zero.
will they not like me? Will I be alone? Will I end up sticking with Cantonese people and not truly mingle with other people?
These questions plague and invade my mind so often I don’t know how to deal with it. It’s pushed aside temporarily, yes. But never gone.
I’m leaving Hong Kong and I know I’ll miss it so much. At least I feel at home here albeit disliking some parts of local culture. It’s a totally new culture out there.
will I not be able to fit in?? Will they look down on me?
That’s my biggest worry; I’m really scared that people in my flat won’t accept me. I’m so scared. Yes you may say that I’m overthinking, that things won’t be as bad as I make it out to be, but I am literally so anxious.
Yet I have to suck it up. I’m growing up and I will learn to adapt. I’m nearly 18.
Ah, the wonderful 18.
So much dread.
3 – The waves crash on the beach, creating a cacophonous roar that strangely seems calming to my ears. The sea is swirling, crying, just like me with my whirlpool of worries. But simultaneously it seems to be whispering to me it’s all alright it’s all alright it’s alright.
It is a sound of comfort, a blanket that washes over me and calms me.
And suddenly I feel reassured. Everything will be alright.
So I’ve started to dabble in film- I quite like the analogue aesthetic. It just has that human touch to it that digital can’t replicate.
It really feels like a visual story frozen in time, yet you can imagine what the people in the frame are saying.
just imagine.
my brother.
I would’ve liked this roll of film better if the skin tones were less orangey and more true to the neutral tones.
Anyways- I’ve been looking into different types of film, and I must say that the Agfa films are the best. Rich with red tones and has an overall warmness to it, while it stays true to warmer skin tones.
Comparing Agfa films to this roll of Kodak’s ColorPlus 200 film, although this roll of film doesn’t look half bad, but there’s just a unspoken type of magic with the agfa film that captured me. It’s funny, since Agfa film’s supposed to be the “poundland” type of thing, meaning that its what people regard as cheap and not worth using. But eh you can make miracles happen with cheap stuff sometimes, you get me? Find the gem within the cheap, the negatives.
I know I started off this blog with the intent to update progress about my (now discarded) 365 project, but oh well. I’ll be doing more life updates and ramblings, and post the rest of my saved drafts that I never got around to posting about myself. Occasional photography updates from myself. Alright?
I’m in Seoul! I’m in Seoul! I’m in Seoul everybody.
that was important, so I’d better repeat that three times.
Jokes aside, I’ve finally gone off for my graduation trip with my friends! Seven days staying in Seoul…. shopping, taking pictures, who knows what else I’ll end up doing?
A complaint about the weather though, they say Seoul’s gonna be raining for the ENTIRE WEEK so i’m pretty upset. Originally today we wanted to go to Yongma Land (abandoned amusement park from the 80s) and Nami Island… but since it’s raining there’s absolutely nothing worth seeing. At least that’s what my friends think. I tend to think that there’s a creepy atmosphere if we went to Yongma Land in the rain. Adds a touch of creepiness.
Isnt there? with an abandoned broken down park in the rain… it’s bound to evoke something.
Anyways… we’re going shopping today…. huzzah.
(note the lack of enthusiasm)
I hope the rain doesn’t keep up for the rest of our trip, or I will be very upset.
so that’s enough waffling about the weather. That’s not what I opened this blog post for.
TRAVEL PICTURES!
I have to say…. the korean metro has so many transfer stations and lines and stops. I think i spent two hours on the metro. just sitting. ugh. Why are there so many stops?! We went all the way back to Incheon to see the Sorae Ecology Park (worth going, if you ask me. Just make sure you’re okay with mud and swampy land.)
It’s a piece of land basically, with a mud swamp so rare species survive there, and are conserved. There’s a space, a worn beaten track back up to and from the ground. I nearly slippes in the mud for a mement there/. Whoops! But anyways… I’ll do anything for photography.
street ourside our hostelSorae Ecology Park; meet my friend Nikki!
9 weeks into this 365 photography project I’ve found it difficult to stay accountable and stick to taking pictures everyday. Sometimes I feel under the weather, sometimes I forget to take my camera out…. and the list of excuses goes on
So I’ve decided to post them here to try and help me accountable.
But oh! Before that…. some good news!! I finally got a new camera- It’s nowhere near professional and would even be considered a total beginner/ photography noob’s camera but I think I’ll have a good time shooting with it. Honestly, I wasn’t really on board with buying such a rookie camera since I wanted to upgrade to better ones and further hone photography skills. However this really packs a punch it’ll suffice. Who says that you can’t take good pictures with a cheaper, less professional camera? It’s all down to the photographer’s skills.
The Canon 200D is an entry-level camera that has loads of step by step instructions built into the interface so it can certainly help beginners achieve their desired photographic effect. (certainly I wouldn’t consider myself a beginner? However there’s still so much that I could improve on in regards to photographic skill, composition and lighting.) I find it rather hard to play with light in photos. I should experiment more.
(I’ve been using a really old Canon 400D before the replacement. haha.)
behold, week 9 of this (not so 365) 365 photography challenge.
Honestly I’m amazed with the picture quality and how crisp the images are with the 200D!
So this Sunday I became a tourist in my hometown- We went to Yim Tin Tsai in Sai Kung, alllllll the way back to Central (to visit the newly opened Tai Kwun previously known as Central Police Station) It was awfully sunny, but what a trip! It’s always nice to be surrounded by nature. I’m glad we went hiking on Sunday, because the weather has been absolutely horrendous since Monday… pouring rain isn’t particularly enjoyable when you’re outdoors. There’s a typhoon passing by today I think. Boo.
I’m quite upset over the fact that my camera is slowly disintegrating- I tried using my 70-120mm lens on my camera, and the autofocus function didn’t work. I had to focus manually, which was a while new thing to learn. I’ve been so reliant on auto focus I hadn’t really learnt to use my camera manually. well now I got the chance to do so.
Hello! I’m Chivon Cheung from Hong Kong, and I’m 17. You can call me Chivon, or Sio. I recently finished my HKDSE (woohoo!) and as a result I have loads of free time on my hands. (for those of you who don’t know, that’s the local public exam- the rough equivalent of the IB and A-Levels exams.)
I hate being idle.
So I’ve decided to start this blog. Well honestly I was planning on posting earlier, when I started my project 365 (I’ll explain that in another post, haha.) but WordPress was a bit complicated to use. I think I’ve finally gotten the hang of it now! Mostly. Still struggling to understand how to customize the colors on this website… however I’m mostly confident enough to finally start blogging!
This blog will mostly feature my photography, occasional random musings, or even general life updates from me. If you’re interested. I’m still fairly new to this.
I don’t exactly know how to do introductions, so there it is. A hello from me to you all! If I get any people reading my blog anyways. I’ll try to update and keep you guys posted as much as I can… let’s see how much determination I actually have to commit to this blog. Hopefully I’ll follow through with this.
hmm… signing off for now! thanks for reading ❤
(ps. reach me @chivon_cheung on Instagram! that’s where I’m most active these days. haha.)
sio 