ElsShutter

I picked up photography as a hobby in 2016, only to realize I’d always loved the camera. A home video brought back the memory of me at 8, begging my aunt for a turn behind the lens at my cousin’s birthday. Seeing myself so young, preserved in that moment, made me smile and confirmed that I hadn’t made a mistake diving into photography. Portraits, especially, draw me in—they capture so much more than words. People often told me my smile was bright yet hid a lot of sadness, something I never quite saw in the mirror. But through the lens, I began to see what they meant. Photography lets me capture the way faces tell stories that words sometimes can’t.