Succint Travel Photography
Santorini // London
The Idea
As a kid, my parents would take literally thousands of the most annoying, obtrusive but utterly forgettable photos while we were on vacation. Now that I travel alone and also have a decent camera, I challenge myself to limit the amount of photos I display for a place to 12 candid ones. It makes every shot so much more deliberate and time spent uninterrupted. These are some of the best results and the thought process that went behind them.
Silhouettes
This was taken on one of the last nights before we all went back home. You could feel it in the air that night, more than the humidity, and the seabreeze. We all silently acknowledged that this may be one of the last times we ever saw each other. Friends, if only for a moment, left a fading impression like silhouettes in the sunset.
Awestruck
When I took this photo, the girl pictured (my sister), graduated university no more than a week ago. She had her fears and anxieties that come with leaving the comfort of home and heading towards whatever uncertainties the future may bring. But it all seemed to fade away in this golden moment when all that was left was a girl admiring the sun. It felt like such a genuine, golden moment and I'm elated that I could capture it.
Pale
Anybody who ever goes to Santorini ever will tell you - the island is all about the sunsets. Thousands of tourists would converge in the city for those awe inspiring breathtaking moments. But what also stood out to me were the quiet moments - the ones they don't tell you about. When all you can hear is the wind and the waves. When the sun lets the moon take center stage for once. And for once, you're not blasted by all the beautiful colors of the rainbow but moreso taken aback by the absence of color - which is a different beauty all of its own.
Key Takeaways
They say Santorini is one of the most beautiful places on earth. And while I was there, surrounded by sunsets and the sea every day, I fell in love. Not with a girl, but with photography. With expressing myself visually. With telling stories so elegantly. And I am so, so happy that I live in a time where the ability to capture that completely and share that with anyone is found in a device that fits in my pocket. One of my biggest regrets is going to Korea and not having a good enough camera at the time to adequately capture in the same way.