Taipei, Taiwan
Where to begin? I was inspired to start a blog because there’s just so much to say about the photoshoots I give to my friends and my clients. There’s a very human element to portrait photography that I’m always chasing, and I believe there are those of you out there who would love to know more about how my photoshoots usually take place. This is our opportunity to see what we have to offer each other when I’m behind the camera.
I had my first international solo trip to Taiwan last September, albeit I had to call my parents every single day. I didn’t make plans for what to do but the primary objective was to finish my guzheng classes that I started last year. Along the way, I had a long list of restaurants and points of interest to go to. Amongst that list was Sun Moon Lake in the center of Taiwan. With the improvements in public transportation I thought it would be a breeze to get there on my own. My relatives there persuaded me against it due to weather conditions, but they also didn’t think I can make it a worthwhile trip in just one day. Perhaps. They said I can check out Tamsui instead, a popular destination to the north in Taipei. They said I can check it out during the Moon Festival on Monday.
Naturally I decided to go whenever I wanted and ended up going on the Sunday before the Moon Festival (which was on Tuesday)… for no particular reason besides the fact that I had no plans for the rest of my day after church. I hopped on the metro (an incredible feat of human engineering by the way) and made my way northbound. I had walked around, had some shaved ice, then pulled out my camera.
Sunset beset us, hundreds of people started pulling out their phones to take photos of the sunset and of loved ones. I brandished my telephoto lens and started taking photos of strangers from a distance, hoping to score a decent photo to present to them. I photographed street performers, cute couples, and frisky little pets. Eventually I came across a group of three Vietnamese international students who were trying to take photos of each other, I awkwardly sat next to one of them and raised my camera for the other two across the boardwalk. Perhaps they thought me weird and didn’t say anything, I’ll never know because I’m too embarrassed to ask, even now. Was I to speak to them in Chinese or English? My broken Chinese is barely acceptable, I know enough only to get myself around, but to hold a conversation was a feat beyond me. I took the risk to assume they spoke English, if my Vietnamese friends who immigrated to the US spoke English quite proficiently, they might be able to as well.
To my surprise, they were very receptive to my photos, but greatest of all, THEY RESPONDED IN PERFECT ENGLISH!!! It was an amazing change of pace from saying “pai-sei” to everyone, I was finally able to communicate with others my age in Taiwan! We introduced ourselves and talked for a while. Anne, Anh, and Helen (Hang) recently arrived in Taiwan to study at National Taiwan University and have been exploring the city during their spare time. We traded Instagram handles, and I offered to take some photos for all three of them and promised to delivered the photos later that night when I got home.
Little would I know that encounter would lead me to a wonder and meaningful connection with people from halfway across the world from me. We kept in touch even after I sent the photos over. I learned they were homesick and couldn’t handle the oily food in Taiwan (I have no idea what they’re talking about). Hang and Anh scouted a pho restaurant near NTU and invited me to try it with them for lunch on the day of the Moon Festival. The pho was ok but I can definitely make something better myself, I think the other two wasn’t too fond of it as well, Hang wasn’t even able to finish her bowl. We talked about where we were in life, they talked about their studies and I talked about my job as a researcher, it was a very engaging conversation. After lunch, they were planning to visit a contemporary art museum and invited me. Though I cherish being invited to anything, I wasn’t about to spend my afternoon browsing art when I have art to create! With my adept fluency in Taipei’s public transportation system and my camera in hand, I offered to guide them to Yangmingshan instead (another location of interest suggested by my relatives and parents) for a hiking and photography trip!
As usual, I didn’t have a plan once we got there, but we made it work and worthwhile. We hopped off the bus we took to get partially up the mountain, and simply continued our journey from there. We came across a waterfall, some interesting pieces of architecture (honestly felt a bit out of place to me but made for great photography props), and Buddhist prayer sites. I tried taking as many photos as I could but with the heat and humidity battering me down, I felt too groggy to even pick up my camera, but I must endure to impress my new friends with my photography skills. At points of interest, I posed them, together and individually, and I even taught them how to use my camera so they could take a couple photos of me too!
As the skies darkened, we couldn’t go any further despite our original improvised plan of finding the volcanic fields on the mountain, we knew we had to turn around otherwise the roads would be too unsafe to traverse. We settled for taking one final group photo before heading back down. At this point in our adventure, I had the opportunity to learn about my new friends well enough to take this ridiculous photo with them. Of course the photo is a technical disaster, but it’s the experience of the hike and companionship they provided that makes this photo truly special… if only the camera was in focus. Even the way down was incredible. We took a bus down back to the metro station where I corrected their Chinese, some of the English-speaking passengers in the bus also joined in, it was quite fun. But with end of the day approaching, we ended the night with a cup of boba and a photoshoot with the moon.
I continued to hang out with my new friends for the rest of my week in Taiwan, Hang and I got dinner with another one of her friends (the food was spoiled I’m pretty certain), and for another night, the original four of us from Tamsui got together for a Vietnamese styled hot pot where my eardrums were absolutely obliterated from other diners shouting at the top of their lungs. Final goodbyes were postponed as far as they could be even as cards and letters were received, but we had our final meal together at NTU before I had to depart for Korea. We took a few final photos for memories’ sake and a few others of birds for the laughs, and it was time for me to depart.
These series of events marked a very important epiphany in my life. Despite the challenges that a post-college life may bring, where new friends are harder to make as many of you my age may agree, I was still more than capable of making new friends. If I could make new friends in a somewhat foreign country across the world, I can make new friends back at home as well. I believe it’s what makes photography important to me, and it is also the primary reason I provide my photography services to my friends for free. It is a virtue I will not abandon even as my photos begin to gain popularity. If you’ve made it this far down this blog, you now know the secret to my heart.
It’s also written on the scheduling page in the same color font as the background!
