Irene Shih | MindHandHeart
January 13, 2021
If the coronavirus pandemic has taught me (and probably many of you) anything, it is that time is of the essence. Funnily enough, when campus and research were shut down, I had too much time that I didn’t know what to do with. In the beginning, I was glad that I could sleep in as much as I wanted but after a month of doing just that, I was so bored of staying indoors. One of the ways to get myself out of the house was the anticipation of witnessing something I would find endearing. I’ve always loved people watching and being observant of random details that most others miss. These little quiet acts, signs that life was happening inside these still, quiet facades, I say to them: I see you, I acknowledge your existence. I spent much of the spring and summer taking long walks around Cambridge, sometimes with a friend but mostly on my own. I feel happy that I managed to capture some of my favorite moments on these walks with my film camera.
My favorite part of photography is that I get to share how I see life, how I am able to note what matters to me. It has never been about creating a pretty image. What I find interesting, sad, beautiful, I take pictures of.
I made a chocolate dairy-free cake for my awesome labmate who defended her PhD thesis during the pandemic.
In East Cambridge, free food laid out on a table outside a house.
I enjoyed walking around my neighborhood and seeing signs like these.
