Grace
Wong
Portraits
KARA
The notion of love has long been a subject of fascination and interpretation for humans. For Kara, this exploration of her own life becomes uniquely a stepping stone from which her own poems emerge. Her deeply intimate experiences which become indented in writings though, are more than about the palpable pleasures of communion. They present themselves as snapshots of her inner turmoil, a search for identity and occasionally, evaluations of self-worth. For Kara, both intimacy and writing serve as sources of sustenance for which she finds meaning. Which finds greater precedence, I am not sure. What I do know though, is that perhaps for Kara there is no soul without the intimacy, but there is also no soul without the poems. This collection of photos, collaged with fragments of her poems, is a collection of views I have built, in an effort to both highlight and explore the complexities of my dear friend Kara.
KAILYN
Exploring a person’s coming of age is both challenging and beautiful. How do they define themselves in the world? What are the choices they choose to make every day? How do hopes and dreams evolve as they themselves continue to evolve? As a photographer, I cannot answer these questions, but I can try to express the transient nature of my subjects. Kailyn is a dear friend of mine who I have known for several years now, and every time I photograph her, she is never the same subject as she was before. Before my eyes is a woman who continues to explore the boundaries of her life and its possibilities, via her mind and her body. That is a strength, a sort of self-awareness that only she is able to channel.
YING-SAN
I look back at these photographs I had taken in 2016 (captured with an aura of elusivity that I am often aesthetically drawn to) and wonder why the hyper- staged appearances of these images diverge so much from the unstaged nature of my deep kinship with Ying-San. The images I've captured are themed on the idea of masks - the masks we wear to shield ourselves from harsh realities. Yet our friendship is far from guarded. It is one filled with late night candour, bad humour, and emotional reassurance through individual times of hardship.
