I learned a little bit, cracked a little smile, and asked “So, let’s start with a light question, followed by “What is the true meaning of life?” and immediately I kind of laughed, almost about to say “I’m just kidding”. Before I was able to do that, she replied, “That life is about you against yourself”.
Read MoreThe night was damp. It drizzles and puddles were everywhere on the uneven roads. It seemed like there were more street vendors than usual, and what they sell are not normal to me. This was my first experience photographing a Chinese New Year in Jakarta (or anywhere else, for that fact).
I had asked my friend about what he remembers about documenting Chinese New Year celebrations, and his answer was short: painful, watery eyes.
A few years back I heard a story that was so extraordinary and I was truly inspired by this person and what he had experienced. After several meetings and talking for hours about his story, I decided to make a documentary short film about his life story.
That was about 4 years ago. Over the years, at the time of writing this blog, the film has been seen by over 80,000 people and many had written about how this story inspired them.
Read MoreI was trying to understand what he is looking for, so I can anticipate where he would be and get my shots. So I asked him - "What are you working on and what kind of things are you looking for today?". He then said "Oh I'm always working on 10-15 things at a time so it could be anything." Well, there goes my plan.
Read MoreI stood in the alley way in awe and an older gentleman came from behind me and stood next to me. I looked at him and said "That's pretty cool, isn't it?". He nodded. I then said "Man it would be so awesome to go up there to photograph them". He said "What would you use that for?". "Oh it's for my personal use, I might just shoot it on my Iphone..." He then turned to me and said "You should then". In the back of my mind, I was thinking that I shouldn't be up there, considering OSHA requirements and all, and I asked him if that's going to be ok for me to go up the vertical ladder to the roof of the building which I don't have permission to. Then the man said "It's alright, I own the building". I had to do a double take when I heard that and while I still couldn't believe him, I said thank you, and I proceeded to climb up the ladder to go up and meet them.
Read MoreMarch 2015:
On the shooting day, I arrived at their house at 5:30am, right before the boys woke up. In the quiet moments with Micah and Megan, I learned that they had just found out that one of their boys, Levy, was diagnosed with autism. That news hit me like a ton of bricks. I remember not knowing what to say and what to do but having such a feeling of empathy.
