A View from Within

My name is Ann. I photograph the world with a Ricoh GR camera in my hand. Photography used to be a quiet act of love, something I did out of pure affection. But not anymore. These days, without a camera, I can hardly see the world at all.

Let me rewind.

One of my dad’s most prized possessions, if I remember right, was his Canon DSLR. During family trips, he’d pull it from a drawer that felt like a little vault, his smile barely showing but unmistakable. Even as a kid, I could tell it made him happy. To this day, whenever I think of cameras, that image of him is the first to come to mind.

In college, my friends called me “the one with the camera.” It was simple—on every trip, I was the one taking the photos. Looking back, I think I played a quietly important role. After all, what’s left in the end, the photos, right?

I majored in fashion and spent those years completely immersed in magazines. I bought them all—every type, every issue. My allowance always seemed to vanish into the glossy pages, and my wallet was constantly empty. So I worked part-time jobs every vacation. While studying abroad in the U.S., I collected local fashion magazines each month. By the time I flew home, I looked like someone returning from a long expedition, my luggage overflowing. I shipped boxes back to Korea via DHL. My mom sighed deeply, but I was proud. I always felt a little thirsty, like I could never collect enough. My obsession with magazines was unmatched.