5am at the coast

 I'd been making a point to shoot more this year, considering how few photoshoots I had been on last year, so when my friend Syahin asked me if I could take photos of him a while ago, I kept his name in mind. 

It has been a whirlwind of a year. A small one, actually, but it was (is?) my final year at university and we had important projects to complete. Time was slowly freed up the past few weeks and I really wanted to do something creative, so I contacted Syahin and we planned for a shoot. 

It doesn't seem too bizarre to me until I tell it to others the things I would do for photos, and this was about the same. Syahin has a car and offered to drive me to wherever I wanted to go for the photos. I was dying to see a beach and the sea, so when I came across this place called Helen's Bay that was a coastal area yet not too far off from where we lived, I suggested that we go there -as well as try to catch the sunrise which happened to be at 5am. 

You know he/she is a pretty cool person when they say yes to your crazy ideas. 

So we both woke up before 5 and he drove with the guidance of a gps, only for us to end up in the middle of a street in a residential area. Not having any other choice, we wandered about until we found a path that appeared to lead down to the beach. 

We did not arrive at the beach immediately, but instead found ourselves at a fork in the path amidst the small woodland-looking area, and taking one down brought us to a very rocky coast. There must've been other people who had visited that area before, despite it being still and empty when we were there which was most likely due to the time of day. I discovered a trodden path between the grass and boulders and made my way carefully down it. 

I am pretty sure I had always only shot girls before this, therefore, this would be my first real shoot with a guy. It was a pretty fun shoot, nevertheless, with me asking him to climb on rocks and lie among flowers that were way too pretty to resist. 

The sun that I had hoped for never really surfaced as it turned out to be a cloudy day, but I made do with what I had. 

 Towards the end, we found the beach but it was at the bottom of a very steep slope. We contemplated going down, and ended up doing so because we were already there anyway. I made my way down the steep slope just fine, but then slipped on some moss when I climbed onto a low rock to be able to shoot from a higher angle. The fall drew a line in my tights and scraped just the teeniest bit of my knee, but I was more worried about the slight thud I heard from my camera and did not even noticed that I was scratched until Syahin pointed it out. But what's a tiny scratch compared to an adventure anyway? 

green crowds

I've been writing unguided writings where I'm pretty sure all the rules are wrong, all except for grammar, but even that may be questionable; rebelling against my love-hate relationship with academics and all its imposing writing.

This library has lost all the charm it once had for me, yet I'm still here. I don't really want to be here. There's the field and the trees outside this glass box where I sit with all these various creatures (if you split us into professions, that is).

Anyway, I wrote some sort of poem –

I've been sober on life for too long

I'm losing my mind

We sat in the middle of the field a few days ago

Lay there, me on your chest

There was always things flooding my mind, my chest

Swelling and pressing themselves against the wall 

I had to remind myself to breathe

But that day we sat there

Amidst trees and greenery

I watched the leaves

Green crowds, green clouds

I'd never liked crowds

But these foliage together sang me peace

I was here, I was now

The breeze nudged me gently as I looked up to you

watching everything I had just seen

instagram / vscocam

fledging dreams

After spending so much time around people my age, I always find it really refreshing to meet people with a bigger age gap. Around two weeks ago, I went for a shoot with my friend Bernadette and her sister, Sarah. Our walks and talks fell naturally into a rhythm as we talked of books and movies and university (and of whether one could study piracy at university -the ahoy, mate! sort of piracy, that is). 

The sisters weren't models, and it took a while, but soon enough, they eased themselves up in front of the camera by interacting with each other and doing the things they did best -one of which was climbing trees! They were a breath of life I needed in those weeks that I was working on my dissertation and I love the way these photos turned out. 

I thought I would've written down what happened that day, but I might have forgotten and so now all that's left is fuzzy memories of what we said. But before we left, Sarah asked me if we were friends to which I said of course. Her face lit up, pleased to have a new friend which I thought was adorable. I was glad to have a new friend too, but I would have never expressed it so enthusiastically.

Also, I have been working on a portfolio website for a few months now and am finally releasing it for everyone to see! Have a look here if you'd like to :)

floating steps

I was sitting in the office

thinking of something less pretty

only to remember that

I'm trying to eliminate ugly

So I looked up at the windows

framed like a glass tank

and noticed a soft drift

that reminded me of snow

Perhaps it was spring saying hello

We've had two weeks of sunshine

and I'm afraid that gold's been all used up

Because the forecast speaks of rain and drizzle

I thought the Irish had better luck

But I look down at my black tights

with skin shining through

And realised how I'm still dressed in winter

Blue, blue, black with magenta shoes

Proving how I walk with my heart

Through days of gloom

Le Carved City: Paris trip part ii

If you've read about the first day, I will assure you that the next few days in Paris were much better. We had planned out a list of places to visit beforehand, and despite having to shift some things around to suit us better once we were there, we managed to visit everywhere we wanted to and even had the last half day free. Of course we went in search for food with that extra bit of time!

Most of the places we visited were the typical touristy ones, which despite being cliches, we wanted to see them for ourselves. So here are the photos I took. 

Black and white postcards with scenes from much older days on the stands which I was so tempted to buy.

We took the metro to the station just outside Arc de Triumph and proceeded to walk down Champs Elysees all the way to the Louvre. 

Roadside crepe stalls

The sun was blazing all the time and when it reflected off the white gravel, we had to have our eyes almost permanently squinted. As Wenkai and I sat under a few trees' shade while we had baguettes for lunch, we stared out at the sunbathers basking in the middle of the park and I wondered out loud how they managed that.

I am just at awe at how graceful these sculptures have been carved despite being made of stone. 

Most places had never-ending queues, and the Louvre was the same. 

Girl looking for her family

I realised that I probably should have waited till the man, whose head can be seen as large as life here, had past, but then I figured that more would have only come to replace his. Oh well, crowded touristy places.

Pretty sure it was one of the only things most people came to see.

Girl sketching a sculpture opposite her.

The lock bridge. 

Roadside artist.

Saint Chapelle, where the stained-glass work was a world wonder itself.

Here's to more travels and more photos to come :)