One afternoon, exhausted due to the heat, I found myself wanting to lie on the bed and simply not move. But the light had dared me to.
Do you believe that light changes with the location? I do. Light in urban Manila is different from the light in that old room in Puerto Princesa, Palawan.
It’s been a while since I had any inclination to snap a self portrait, up close at that. The light had cast certain softness and reality.
Yes, reality.
It’s funny how the light lets you see age and every minute detail that makes you unique. It illuminates the truth. And you learn to face them, no matter how harsh they appear to be.
Self portraits are fun to do, sometimes. Esp if you learn how to work with the light. In colour or without, you learn how to accept yourself.
You learn how to be comfortable in your own skin.
Trivia: All except the last photo was taken in K’s house in Puerto Princesa, Palawan, Philippines; the last photo was taken in my own room in Parañaque, Philippines; September 2008.
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Note
Light definitely does change with the location, just as it changes with the temperature, the amount of smog in the air, the denseness of the surrounding buildings, the presence of moisture, etc., etc.
Casual photographers generally take better images in Europe because the light there isn’t cast directly — because of the angle of the Earth. Everything is lit evenly and without the usual deep shadows and harsh highlights that usually plague equatorial photography. This is btw, a purely anecdotal claim based on seeing way too many holiday photos
Hi, Luis! Oh, good to know! I don’t have factual support for the theory but I reckon you just solved that for me. Do you take photos, too?