My flight to Boston from Saigon in January 2018 marked the beginning of my fourth year as a student abroad. The winter was cold, but I was used to it.
In February 2018, my relationship with a boy from home ended. Boston suddenly felt too cold for me, and I found myself again on a plane, going home.
I did not know what I was doing at all. Between transferring schools, changing majors, falling on ice, and bearing an ever-breaking spirit, I was struggling with depression, and clueless about my future.
But I had some plans for being at home. I worked a bit here and there, and then I enrolled in a photography mentorship program.
I photographed when I spent time with friends and families, I asked them about their troubles, I recreated scenes I have seen them in before. Unintentionally, I saw sadness everywhere I looked.
I wrote to speculate why my images were so pessimistic. Perhaps I was telling a story about our collective depression. But despite my speculations, my photographs changed with time.
PHOTOGRAPHS & TEXT: LIEN PHAM, VIETNAM. WEBSITE: LIENPHAM.NET
RETURN, by Lien Pham was made during the IPA Mentorship Program. Click to view: More Mentorship Projects.
The IPA Mentorship Program is a photography mentorship initiative by Invisible Photographer Asia (IPA) for those who wish to further their personal photographic vision and goals.
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