Here’s a little story

The framing assignment gave me time to reflect on the world around me while silencing out the everyday noises that usually surround me. The technique of using a small frame to box out and zone in on the small workings of the world around me helped me to take in the detail of my surroundings and recall the simplicities in this complex world. I used the frame on a path that I normally run on, and it allowed me to take in things I normally pass right by without having a chance to truly take in. It was especially different without headphones in— I took note of people interacting with one another, what they were wearing, and where they were going. It made me feel both at peace and more connected to the place I see so frequently, as well as enlightened knowing that there is so much more to what we think we see everyday.

I am an English major pursuing minors in both marketing and documentary story-making. To me, life is about both seeking and following your passions, helping to discover who you are to the very core. I believe that literature holds the ability to put raw human emotion into words, evoking some type of emotional response from the reader allowing them to better understand themselves and their world, and, for that reason, it is unlike any other subject or major. I like to approach issues or topics slowly, grasping every angle different people involved and understanding the setting and background of the story. I am intrigued by many issues and stories both locally and globally, but I am always drawn to stories about peoples’ backgrounds and personal stories—similar to the “Humans of New York” series. I think the power of documentary could be useful to do similar stories of students and their backgrounds, especially those on a college campus. If I were to tell a story of a specific place in the Lehigh Valley, it would be comparing the lives of both the students at Lehigh and the students and families who attend Broughal Middle School next to Lehigh’s campus. There is a huge class divide in South Bethlehem – people living only feet away from each other yet leading exceptionally different lives – that I think a documentary could capture well.

There is rarely a second when I am not taking in my surrounding, eyeing people, nature, lighting, and movement. I am constantly taking pictures, mainly candids, of others who are in perfect lighting, a state of calmness or happiness that I want to capture, or are living in a moment that I know I will want to remember. I frequently take videos of family and friends that I put together and can look back on; it helps me to keep my memories close and to recreate the emotions I had at that time. I also love to photograph nature and my surroundings – sometimes the sun is hitting the ocean perfectly or an old abandoned building has a certain look to it that makes it look beautifully artistic. With these pictures I edit, print, post and give to those who are in the pictures, or I just keep them for myself. I get a both a sense of self-pride from my ability to capture these moments in an artistic way, as well as a sense of warmth that comes with being able to capture moments that can resurface feelings for certain times, people, or places.

Framing things is weird. It was really challenging trying to fill the frame with close ups. I don’t know if that is because I was using a small piece of cardboard or if I’m special but I found that part really challenging. Framing from far away seemed to be much easier. It was easier to fill the empty space and adjust for distance. When using human subjects I found it hard to find the right amount of headspace (granted they did not give me a lot of time before they walked away). I don’t know if I’m suppose to put their hair just out of the frame, or what, but I do think I’ll figure that out more once I get behind a camera. This project made me curious about the different aspect ratios and how Wes Anderson does the things that he does. Composing shots proved to be cumbersome with cardboard, I hope it is easier to do with a camera.

The place I chose to tell my story is the water. I think that being on or in the water brings out a sense of inner peace and contentment from within that is hard to find elsewhere.

When looking through the frame, the first thing I realized was that with the human eye, I could not focus on everything through the frame at once, especially with objects both close and far. I noticed that people do not see in an instant like a photograph, but instead need a small amount of time to focus on different areas within the frame.

The lighting would vary as I would change angles. An example is when I’d want to capture the image of the trees and the sunlight behind it. If I’d change angle, the rays of sunlight wouldn’t be that apparent. If I’d switch the frame to a vertical position, there would be too much space and it would be too long. I did experience some silly difficulties while measuring the cardboard sides since I had initially started with centimeters instead of inches. Also, with our two eyes, or “lenses”, seeing exactly what was within the frame at the edge of my vision was unclear. However, after closing one eye, the boundary of the frame became more clear.

I also realized that the beauty of working with this frame was that there was no zoom. The zoom of the camera drives us to become lazy at times, while this frame pushed us to move our bodies and arms more than usual so we can get the angle we like best. With my eyes, seeing exactly what was within the frame was unclear. After closing one eye, the boundary of the frame became clearer.

Film is a weapon that draws all kinds of people who share different ideas and passions together. I am currently majoring in Film and Economics with a Finance certificate. I yet haven’t figured out what exactly I’d like to do with my major but I assume I’d start my career somewhere within the lines of production. I see the world as several different worlds all supposedly stuck on planet Earth. Being an international student, I’ve noticed that ways of life, mentalities, and the foundation of every country differ so much. I wouldn’t limit it to just country because every city and village all over India feel like different worlds altogether. Moving from one big urban city like Calcutta to a small Himalayan region called Ladakh feels extremely different. People’s live stories really interest me because I’ve met such unique individuals who handle terrible situations in such constructive ways. When I walk into Wawa and look behind the sandwich counter, I see a young 25 year old woman working there but there is a lot more to her than just a woman trying to make her ends meet. In fact, she is Jane who also is suffering from chronic depression and is forcing herself to keep seeing the best in life to not allow her mind to take control of her with its negative deadly thoughts. Who would ever know how much she is suffering behind that sweet smile? Who would know that she is still affected by her mother’s death? I learned this when I tried to shoot an interview of her last year. I learned more after she messaged me on Facebook this year. I enjoy telling stories of others but I would like to get better at it because I still feel there is so much I need to work on. I would like to work on the way I question others about their lives. I think I can initially make people feel comfortable enough to open up to me but there are times when I don’t have the right answer. There is no right answer but there surely is a neutral one. I need to work on being aware of my words and comments as a documentarian.

Since third grade, I’ve always carried a camera in my backpack, pocket, or little purse. My teachers in class somewhat got used to see me pull out a camera in the middle of class to record a random creative assignment or friends fooling around. This happened throughout my entire middle school and high school. Teachers and gym coaches used to email me to film or take pictures of the students projects and final games. Just like that, I became the first school photographer in my school. I enjoy documenting animals, flowers, people doing what they love, people not doing what they love, my family members, and erratic moments which I enjoy at the present time. I think this started since childhood because my father was fond of capturing moments and capturing images of similar subjects. All of his work is lost somewhere in cassettes and small discs. It’s unfortunate he hasn’t done much with it and I’m hoping to use my skills and take my work to a more useful level. Of course, now I don’t carry a camera with me everyday but I do have my phone with me at all times. I love to capture natural moments of people at their zenith. I enjoy this because when we look at particular objects or people, there is some sensation that one can never get back. I take these photos and videos in order to recreate those feelings that I or others have had in the past. I’ve never felt burdened when asked to do these related favors for others because I always learn something new about the person in the smallest ways. It’s a natural way of learning more about you, the subject, and how to work with the camera. Sadly, I have barely posted my work online which is something I’d like to work on. My old footage or pictures do unexpectedly come in use for film and art projects, which is a reliever at times.