We tell ourselves lies until we believe them.
I painted Higuruma because he represents something I think about a lot "justice". Where is it these days? When is truth ever enough to actually bring it?
He’s a troubled, introspective kind of character that reminds me of thriller protagonists where one’s sense of truth slowly takes over their mind. In his case, he manifested his own truth because the system failed him... Then he became the thing he hated.
Higuruma told himself he was "justice" and he did... He tried to enforce it, but blinded by it, he detached from his own humanity.
In the end he admitted he was wrong and that’s the most human thing a person can do.
Higuruma is one of the most honest characters I’ve ever seen in TV.
And if I’m being honest, the hair could've been better, but I could not find the right color for it.
Wasn’t even supposed to be in Malaysia. Me and my friend were heading to Vietnam from Singapore, visas didn’t show up on time, so boom… Batu Caves... was meant to be a quick layover to film a music video but became a fun trip, 272 steps to get this view 100% worth it.
When I got rejected from film school in Mexico I remember when I first learned the basics of photography only because I got gifted a DSLR camera it was a Nikon D3200, I watched a whole course on photography on youtube, probably one of the things that I am most grateful for, just studying passionately something I found truly inspiring and fun to do. Fast-forward to my second rejection from film school in Mexico I moved to NYC without a clue of what I was doing not even knowing the language, to be honest I never planned to live here whatsoever, but photography and instagram created this whole world of possibilities and friendships for me.
I see photography as my memory, I remember the moments and lore behind my pictures, with lots of stories behind them, and this time in 2017 I linked with urban photographers from across the country to explore the city that night, cold night btw. I experimented with light painting photography right under the GW bridge and we had some time before the train came, so I took a bunch of shots hoping one was sharp and clean enough and after a "thousand" shots here's the one I was proud of with a few lightroom tweaks on it.
I kinda miss the old Instagram… when people shared photos just to share, no endless scrolling, no cat videos just moments which I still see but it’s all cluttered with the algorithm recommendations and infinite ads.
These shots are from my first months in this city when I used to chase sunsets from Williamsburg, sometimes alone, sometimes just trying to figure my life out with a camera.
It’s wild looking back at the photos that made me who I am today, also feels good to bring some of that “old insta simplicity” back.
