Aug 8
seen from Malaysia
seen from United States
seen from United States
seen from Philippines
seen from Spain
seen from United States
seen from Spain
seen from Spain
seen from Spain
seen from United States
seen from Spain
seen from Spain
seen from Spain
seen from United States
seen from Israel
seen from Philippines
seen from Netherlands
seen from United States
seen from China
seen from China
Whether it’s bearskin or bare skin, you’ve gotta keep a stiff upper lip
Standing Tall / ©all rights reserved / htm.studios/2026/033
“Standing Tall”
Nili Gudhka
Africa Geographic Photographer of the Year
Tall Tuesday training with my hidey hut: My hidey hut stands tall on its side, but I can stand even taller now!
lupita nyong'o wearing a green gucci gown at the standing tall premiere during the cannes film festival on may 13, 2025
Standing Tall Like:
📸 The Night Petunia Said “I’m Not Sorry”
It was just dinner.
A round table. Too many forks. Wine poured into the wrong glasses. Someone made a joke at her expense—harmless, they said.
But it wasn’t.
It was about the way she dressed. The way she laughed too loudly. The way she always “needed attention.”
And Petunia smiled. At first.
She always did. That glitter-smile. The one that said “I’m fine,” even when she wasn’t.
But something inside her—shifted.
She put her fork down. Not angrily. Just… deliberately.
She looked up. Met their eyes.
And said:
“I’m not sorry.”
Not loud. Not cruel. Just clear.
The whole room paused. Liliana blinked. Rosalina froze, her fingers curled around the stem of her glass.
“I like the way I laugh,” she added.
“And if that makes you uncomfortable, that’s your problem.”
She didn’t cry.
She didn’t storm out.
She just picked up her fork again and ate her dinner like it was the most sacred thing she’d ever done.
And maybe it was.
Because girls like Petunia— girls taught to make space, to sparkle over sadness, to apologize for being too vivid—
they don’t often get to say “I’m not sorry.”
But she did. And she meant it.
And no one knew what to say after that. So they passed the bread. And the conversation softened.
But Petunia glowed.
Not from pride. Not from spite.
From relief.
Because that night, for the first time, she didn’t make herself smaller just to keep the room comfortable.