Five(ish) Frames

documenting my journey with 35mm film

[wha13ver]

Some scenes from Hawaii, November 2019.

Sometimes, all you’re left with is having to accept the reality of things. I’ve been running backwards, searching for answers, and getting lost.

[wha13ver]

shot on various film stocks.

A little more than a year ago. The memories don’t die. 

Without meaning to, i’ve been finding myself revisiting all the places that once mattered. All the places that meant something. All the places that allowed us to create beautiful memories.

We’re coming full circle, and i’ve been forced to learn about myself. Have we reached our end?

[wha13ver]

Learning and unlearning. About love. about relationships. about life.

It’s constant, heartbreaking, and often discouraging. But it can be very beautiful, too. so here’s to the small moments.

[wha13ver]

i used to dismiss the smaller details. A photograph is a photograph, and shows only the bigger picture. it can tell someone where i’ve been and what i’ve accomplished and with whom. i used to set aside my emotions, thinking they didn’t have a place in my photographs.

but when i look at my photographs, i remember. i remember how i felt. my emotions and my overall being is a part of my photographs, and i want to hold on to the memories. 

[wha13ver]

P made me write down everything that’s been weighing me down, so that we could throw it away into the ocean. It was meant to be a release. Except that my load wouldn’t just leave me so easily. It kept coming back to me. My paper kept finding its way back to me. Oh, the irony.

I’m an obsessive person. I’ve been going back and forth, lost, trying to make sense of it all. It’s been weighing me down.

Perhaps it will never make sense. And that’s okay. Tupac’s words have been my inspiration as of late:

“...Just leave the pieces on the floor and move the fuck on.”

[wha13ver]

ilford HP5

It’s a feeling that lingers. I remember the calm, and the comfort, despite being so far away from home. Where do we go from here?

[wha13ver]

Ilford HP5 

Almost a year ago at Yosemite. The grandeur of it all blew me away, and i am grateful i got to experience it the way that i did. Creation is so beautiful.

[wha13ver]

ilford hp5

i can almost still hear the buzz of the neon lights. It’s amazing how we retain memories, and remember certain things but not others. Do we ever forget the lack of a person? Complexion says we can’t miss what we can’t remember. But i remember clearly. I remember the empty space...

[wha13ver]

Kodak colorPlus 200

Finding that patch of light (It’s always there, really. One just has to see it).

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Sunnier days

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out-takes, and parking lot juggling.

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Fujifilm Superia 400

Moments from a random day in LA

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Fujifilm Superia 400 | Kodak Portra 800

the best friendships are the ones you can pick up where you left off.

Postcards from the east coast.

[wha13ver]

An attempt to capture movement and flow with a lack of structure and symmetry. Tried something different.

[wha13ver]

forever ago. the beginning. or perhaps, we were simply fading in. As the beautiful blush’ko would sing, purple love doesn’t end, it just fades out. Or something along those lines. 

i do love the results of playing with film in low light. More “playing” needed.

[wha13ver]

time is such a strange thing, and sometimes i think i still can’t fully comprehend it. i was there, and now i’m here and not there. how can things change so quickly? how can a minute ago be so far away, and such a contrast?

Here’s my first attempt at developing my own film. Excited to see where this takes me.

[wha13ver]

I want to be better at capturing the essence of a place, and the essence of my experience. Sometimes I get intimidated. Sometimes i feel that the act of taking a photo is imposing too much on someone. 

And where does one draw the line between trying to capture everything that inspires them vs. just enjoying the experience?

I am learning...