At the start of 2016, to kill time on a flight home from Holland, I listed down all the things that mattered to me and that I wanted to focus more on. I don’t believe in New Year’s resolutions, but I do believe in developing oneself and making new habits. As we’re coming to the close of 2016, I am quite satisfied with the good habits I made — there is, however, one area I’m still struggling with: making more time for photography.
2016 was a year where I worked extremely hard at my job, which I thoroughly enjoy. As a result, when I’d get home I would want to unwind. I travelled a lot and took my camera with me — I captured some great moments and scenes, but they’re still on my memory cards waiting to be processed. There’s nothing more frustrating than knowing you have countless images you’d like to share but don’t have time or energy to work on.
A new habit
About a month ago I went to London without my camera — annoyed that I still had hundreds of images to process from Vietnam. Countless times there were scenes I wanted to capture but couldn’t. Until one day, walking through Regent Street: the sky was painted with stunning red hues and the street was lit with beautiful Christmas lights. I grabbed my phone and captured it. The quality wasn’t anywhere close to what my camera could get, but I still captured a moment. I still shared it. I still got a reaction.
That, ultimately, is what I always loved about photography and what truly matters. The more experienced and professional you get in an art, the more of a perfectionist you become. The quality of a shot is not meant to be measured by the resolution of the image — it should be measured by the feeling it evokes. Art is meant to move you. You don’t look at a painting and think ‘why, what great oils he used and what a good paint brush’; you admire the representation of a moment, a scene, a message.
In 2017 I plan to make a new habit: I will capture at least one image every day using whichever tool I have at hand. Photography, like any other art, is a creative process and requires constant nurturing.
With that said, I’m sharing some of my favourite processed snaps captured mostly with my phone this year.