Brenda Gao – Photography? Is a concept.

What I learned: A dabble is a small dab. Thank you for your time!

Yup. Photography is a concept. From the ISO-shutter speed-aperture mathematical soup to the rule of thirds, my routine snaps of homework answers have evolved into actually using my camera for some kind of good. Through my so-called photoshoots, I’ve half froze to death (red knuckles, swollen fingers), died (my phone, not me), and met some really cool people. I’ve taken hundreds of photos, each taken with feelings of expectancy, frustration, and relief. I’ve come to realize that behind every photo in each portfolio is a story. A process. An experience the photographer is trying to tell. What they were feeling and doing and how the photo was shot and how everything came together. Maybe they were engulfed in happiness when taking the portrait of their friends, or they were feeling a sense of deviance when sneaking a photo of a stranger from behind? Nevertheless, I’m finding myself to appreciate these stories. The thousand words I can only hope to read because these captions will never be long enough to explain the true worth of our photos. I hope you will enjoy my portfolio and find stories in them as I had in yours.