oasis child

These are more photos taken during our stay in Batangas. We went during rainy season so we basically had the entire resort to ourselves and only ever saw other guests at the restaurants. It barely rained during our stay but when the rain was coming in, I decided to whip out the ae-1 and take a couple snaps. I think it was only after the rain that distorted the horizon and hid the landscapes I was really able to appreciate how beautiful our surroundings were. Maybe I need to work on learning to appreciate how beautiful things can be before it "rains". It's something I've been struggling with, especially recently.

It's been a while since I've posted photos on here, not that anybody has noticed because this blog literally has no audience, but I'm going to keep it up because I enjoy it. Haven't really wanted to touch a camera for a while now and when I found out I was going overseas I knew it was a prime opportunity to force myself to take photos again. It's been severely difficult the past couple months but I think I've had several breakthroughs while overseas and being able to take photos and enjoy the process of it was so cathartic and healing. I also had an epiphany about my photography. I've been trying for so long to emulate the photographers I admire who take beautiful photos of beautiful models which end up in magazines. I can admire it all I want but that's just not me. I like the candidness of my photography and the softness of it and I like vulnerability and not the kind you can ask of your models. I like that my photography wont ever be in magazines and I like how personal my photos can be to me and sometimes to others. I think the whole purpose of why I started taking photos in the first place was to try and invoke some sort of nostalgia through my images. I want them to tell stories or have people attach their own stories to them and sometimes I think I succeed in that and I feel like through practice and time I can improve on that a lot. I'm probably sounding like a massive wanker so let's move on.

While we were at the Philippines we went to this beautiful place about 2 and a half hours south from Manila. I spent most of the time in the water, floating and swimming and dealing with leg cramps every other minute. It was so beautiful and the second night we were there, we witnessed one of the most beautiful sunsets imaginable. The sky turned beautiful shades of pink and yellow and I drunkenly took several shots of Riz while she was admiring the skies. I wouldn't call myself a spiritual person, at least not in the religious or supernatural sense, but this was by far the most spiritual I've been, literally in awe of how beautiful the world can be, which I guess I'd forgotten for a while.