bells.psd

Not even two years ago I had almost no photography experience- I had done an after school workshop in middle school but it was cancelled because of COVID and I had technically taken photography in school but a combination of virtual school and my general disinterest in the class meant I didn't put much effort into it. The summer of 2021 two things happened. First, I discovered Sophia Chew (@shots_by_sophia) on Instagram. Sophia is a teen self portrait photographer and videographer who remains one of my biggest inspirations. Then, a month or so later, I went on vacation and my hotel room had a plaid couch which I continue to believe is the coolest couch to exist. Perhaps because I had been on Sophia's page so much or perhaps just because I needed something to immortalize this couch but I decided that I was going to take photos with it. So, at 11:30 pm the night we arrived I found the best outfit I could come up with- a tank top and orange sweatpants- and used my phone's selfie timer to take dramatic photos of me on this couch. About half an hour later I used the photos app editing tools to make the photos look particularly cool and posted them on my personal Instagram page. 

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This mini foray into self portrait photography quickly turned into an ongoing obsession with bringing to life fictional worlds. As an avid reader the ability to create escapist worlds through photography is an exciting concept; over the past few years Photoshop and I have built a love/hate relationship, I continue to do most of my work long after typical waking hours, and my photography has taken me Carnegie Hall. While school has increasingly taken up my free time I've continued with this little hobby and I have no plans to stop. Where this will take me I have no idea but wherever I end up I hope to pursue this passion in some form or another for as long as I can.